Simply Sacrifice
by The Poisoned Quill
Summary: Mistakes drove them apart, and just when they were getting it all back... They'll find pain, trust, and love on thier most dangerous adventure yet. But will DG be forced to choose between her family and her love, or can she save them both? new chap posted
1. Chapter 1

It was exactly one year after the double eclipse. Life was starting to settle down again around the castle. People were beginning to get over the shock of thier newly alive princess and treated her as they once had, a normal part of the O.Z. But that didn't make DG any more of a princess. She still yearned to ride her motercycle, and she'd never get used to the dresses. So, in essance, she was still plain old DG, just with a fancy title.

Cain was as stubborn as always, but thank God, he was at least a little happier. After the eclipse, he'd taken it upon himself to get more aquainted with his lost son and thier relationship was well on it's way to recover. Goodness knew it would take years, but it was a start.

And speaking of young Jeb, he'd been impatient to get married in the aftermath. So now he shared a house, happily, with his father, his lovely wife, Fiona, and thier newborn daughter, Cynthia. They made the best family, but they all still had thier doubts. After all, who knew how long it would be until happiness was snatched away from them again.

Glitch couldn't care less about the future. His brain never was put back, the surgery was too tricky and the damage too extensive. But he didn't mind that so much. It'd been so long that he prefered being plain old Glitch to stuffy and boring Ambrose any day. DG was glad too, from the few memories she had of him, she knew that her and Ambrose had never really gotten along that well.

Then, of course, there was Raw. He stayed here with Kalm as the Ambassador for the Viewers. And that worked ok for him, as long as no one touched him when they were upset or sad. Most people respected that, seeing as Raw was one of the few Viewers that still trusted humans, thanks to DG.

Her parents were another matter. Evidentally, she'd been a wonderful little girl who loved dresses and palace life, and that was what they'd expected. They didn't understand her like her "Robot" parents did. They argued, constantly, about the way she dressed, the way she acted with her friends. Like they had the right! But she always tried to remember what it had been like for them, and always pretended like it didn't matter. Still, sometimes she just missed Mom and Popsicle, even with thier crazy quirks.

Az was fine, suprisingly. The witch had effected her deeply but most of the inner scars were close to completely mending. She hadn't been able to speak out, and hadn't looked at anybody for months. What were friends for, but to bring others out of thier shells.

And so, today, they all crowded into Glitch's old lab. Today they'd try out something that Glitch, Az, and DG had all managed to come up with. And the others, well, they were there to laugh when it didn't work. Cain leaned against the work counter as Glitch fiddled with some knobs on the control panel and reminded DG of something. "So, what exactly is this thing supposed to do again?"

" It's kind of like what a Viewer can do, only without the pain it causes them. Hopefully, they won't be used like that quite as often." Glitch grinned at DG for a second before nodding at Cain. "And it was all DG's idea, so if it doesn't work, blame her."

"Your the genious, not me." She smacked him playfully.

Raw just smiled from his corner, he knew Glitch well enough to keep his distance. Cain joined him as Az picked up a small metal helmet and fastened it to Glitch's head.

DG looked at them, earnest panic in her eyes. "You sure you want me to do this?"

Az layed a hand over hers. "You know why we can't risk anyone else. You need my magic to run the machine, and Glitch could forget and completely destroy your entire brain."

DG just nodded, still not sure she could do much better than he could. Az moved to a different part of the machine as Glitch's hand replaced hers. She looked at him and tried to smile, failed. "What if I do something? What if I hurt you?"

He laughed once, stroked his thumb along the smooth skin on the top of her hand. " You won't, because I know you, and I know you can handle this. And if you do mess up, well, I don't exactly have a brain anyway."

Her eyes narrowed. "That's not funny, Glitch."

He mirrored her expression with a tiny bit of humor, "Not even a little."  
At this she had to giggle, her worry lessened slightly. "Alright, maybe a tiny bit. Now sit back so we can get this over with." Silently, she began to turn knobs, flipping switches. Then she gave Az a solemn nodd. Az touched her hand to a glass orb, drew some of her power into it.

The machine began to whir, but Az couldn't let go, couldn't stop filling it with her magic. As it went faster and faster, somebody screamed. DG wouldn't realize it was her as she was yanked away from the panel by Cain.

Fighting against him, she struggled to reach the switches. She had to shut it off, and she had to do it now. Giving him a solid jab in the gut, she fumbled at the switches and within seconds had them off.

Terrified to see the damage she'd done, she brought her eyes up to the scene before her.


	2. Chapter 2

Raw broke his no contact rule to pull the helmet off of Glitch. His face was paler than usual, his eyes rolled into his skull. DG slapped at Cain's hands, this was no time to worry about her own safety. The instant she was free again, she dropped to her knees next to where Raw had layed Glitch. Her own shaking, she took his hand, felt the coolness of it. "Is he..."

"No." Raw shook his head slowly, " Just fainted. No real damage either."

Az let out a breath. "Well, at least he's not dead."

DG and Cain both looked upon her unfavorably. "No thanks to you." DG rose to her feet, there was nothing more she could do to help her friend. "How much power did you think we needed?"

Fury overtook relief, eyes on fire. "And where were _you_? You were supposed to be right there, to turn it off the moment something went wrong." Both looked at Cain, who had stepped away by now.

"What?" He shrugged.

"It was you who almost got Glitch killed!" Az pointed at him with such sudden hate. She didn't know why, but she felt hate toward everyone here in the room. These people who had become family to her. If she let it show, she knew she could kill them, her magic was still strong enough for that.

They watched her as she stormed out of the room, leaving a wake of raw emotions behind her. Silent as the grave, they all turned back to watch Glitch. "She's right, you know." DG finally spoke.

"About what?" Cain looked at her, saw the worry in her eyes. No matter how mad she got, her first priority would be the care of her friend.

"If you hadn't been so anxious to pull me out of the way, I could have shut it off in seconds." She turned away, stared at the floor.

Cain laughed, insulted. "Does this really matter? Glitch is fine. Forget it, Princess, bury the hammer."

She pushed past him, leaving just Cain and Raw to deal with Glitch.

"DG will forgive." Raw looked up at him from his spot next to Glitch. "Forgive herself, then forgive others. Won't let this come between friends."

"I don't know, Raw." Cain chose to lean against the wall, " I've never seen her quite this mad."

"Azkadellia is more difficult." Raw shook his head as thier friend began to stir. "Something changed in her, something bad."

"We'll worry about it later." Cain smiled a little as Glitch blinked, opened his eyes a little. "Good morning, sunshine."

Glitch struggled to sit up, still a little dizzy. "What happened? Where's DG?"

Raw helped him to his feet as Cain spoke. " We're not quite sure, and she's a little shook up."

"Is she hurt?" His mind cleared just enough to focus on that point.

"No, DG's fine." Raw rested a hand on Glitch's shoulder. "More guilty, afraid it was her fault."

"And taking it out on me and Az." Cain added with a snort.

Glitch's eyes narrowed. "Why you? I mean, obviously Az could have used to much power, but what did you do?"

"I reacted the way I always do, I tried to pull her away from the machine before she got hurt." He shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Ahh." Glitch smiled in understanding at the tin man. They shared a moment of knowing silence.

"Go talk to her, Glitch." Cain sighed. " Before she hurts somebody."

"She wouldn't do that." Glitch shook his head. "Not DG."

"Normally you'd be right." He agreed. "But we all know what happens when DG gets upset."

"Right." And he was gone.

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She was sitting in the hallway, her head against her knees. Wordlessly, he leaned against the wall next to her. Her voice was cruel, heartbreakingly painful when she finally spoke. " I don't want to talk, and I expesially don't want to talk to _you_."

"Well, what did I do?" Glitch blinked in suprise.

She still didn't look at him, knew that if she did, it'd only make things worse. "Why did you have to be in that machine? If you had simply let me put that stupid helmet on, I'd be the one taking the risk and there wouldn't have been a chance for you to get hurt." Her voice broke toward the end, alerting him to her crying.

"Hate to burst your bubble, Doll, but the chances were greater that you'd get hurt. Then, of course, our resident ex-tin man would have every reason to finally shoot me."

"Sounds like a plan to me." She muttered, picking her head up only to look at the door in front of her.

He gulped, "DG, you suprise me."

At this, she stood, brushed herself off before looking at him. "That makes two of us. Goodbye, Glitch."

For the second time in fifteen minutes, she walked away leaving a man speachless. She couldn't take it anymore. She knew she was being dramatic. But for a while, her emotions had seemed churned and unsettled, her thoughts about her friends were muddled and confused. Maybe this friendship was never meant to be permanent, after all, they'd all met by accident. It was only natural for that companionship to fade, wasn't it? She wasn't sure what she thought anymore. But this could be a start, saying goodbye.

He knew this wouldn't be repaired with time, not this. Never, even when they argued, had she ever told him goodbye. It was always "See you around," or "Catch you later," or something like that. Goodbye was just so much more permanent.

No, he didn't know how they were supposed to fix this one. But he couldn't lose her, not her.


	3. Chapter 3

Cain knocked on her door and was met with wooden silence. "Hey, kid, it's me. Open up." Still no answer. "Don't tell me your still mad, that was two days ago. C'mon, Princess, you can't avoid us forever." When she didn't bother to open the door, he heaved a sigh and walked away.

She sat at her desk, her head against the wood. She hadn't guessed how empty she'd be, breaking off the connection with her friends. She couldn't even talk to Raw anymore. It would be unfair to him, feeling all the negative emotions in her heart. It would tear at him like it ripped at her. So she avoided him too. For the best, she told herself, this was best for all of them.

And she'd never felt more alone.

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Cain stepped into the library, his eyes scanning the room. Glitch sat at a table, pretending to read. More to the point, he had been reading as a distraction and had gotten sucked into his own thoughts again. The glassy stare gave that away the moment Cain saw him. With a smirk, he stepped in front of him, knocked the table gently. "Haven't you read everything in here already?"

Glitch glanced at him narrowly, "If Ambrose has, then I don't remember." His face shifted, a fake neutral. "Any luck?"

Cain shook his head, slid into the chair across from Glitch and took his hat off. "She's still not coming out of her room."

"She's going to stay in there until we're all gone? So, is this it then? The end of our time together?" Glitch shut the book slowly, not bothering to mark the pages.

Cain just looked at him for a moment. It'd always been obvious to him that the bond between Glitch and DG had been the strongest. And he put it off to the fact that niether of them really fit in anywhere. But maybe it wasn't stronger, merely a different, more special kind of bond. Though he hoped not, for all of thier sakes. It could only hurt them more if it was."No, zipperhead, we won't let her get away from us."

Doubtful, Glitch just nodded, Cain glanced at the clock and stood. He couldn't waste anymore time, after all, he couldn't be late for his first day as the head of the Royal Guard. Although, he'd love to just skip it. He'd turned down the opportunity for months, much to the two princess' chagrin. But after much persistance, DG'd finally talked him into it.

And he'd do it, for her. Even if she decided she'd never look in his direction again.

"Hey, tin man." Glitch picked up the olive green fedora and smirked. "Looks like I'm not the only one who's forgetting things around here."

Slightly embarassed at forgetting something that was so much a part of him, he took it. Setting it on his head the way he was accustomed to, he looked back at Glitch. "Uh, thanks."

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Across the palace grounds, a meeting took place in the shadows.

"Stop us on the road to Finaqua, nobody can see anything. I need the people to believe that I am the only survivor in a tragic papay attack." The woman in the dark cloak ordered briskly. It hadn't suprised her to find some longcoats among the lower ranking guards. After all, what better way to get to DG. She'd picked them well.

"But, Sorceress, the papay have been nothing but gentle since the return of Princess DG." One couragously spoke out against her plan. "No one's going to believe they killed her."

"Let me worry about that!" She snapped, her hood falling off as she jerked her head to look at him. "Just make sure you grab them all. The rest, well, we'll get to that when the time arrives. Now go, before your missed at your posts."

The longcoats scampered back to thier assigned posts, leaving Az alone in the dark.

She'd felt unbalanced and uncertain in the world of light after the eclipse. And now she knew why. She still belonged in the dark. In her comfortable aloneness, she thought back to her last two days.

Restless dreams of her time as sorceress, the overwhelming urge to use the gift she'd been born with to do what she wanted. And she even knew what had finally made her snap too.

She'd purposely avoided using more than the smallest amount of magic at a time. And then, when she tried to pull away from the machine, it was like her power took control, she'd done nothing to stop it. Something within her had been released, something she'd worked extremely hard to lock up.

And instead of resisting, this time she would let it reign in her. No one would stop her this time.


	4. Chapter 4

So, I know it's been kind of a slow beginning, but now we're getting down to the main part of the story. Of course by now, you all know I don't own tinman or even any of the characters.

Also: If your into Labyrinth, you should check out the other story I'm writing, "Loving Sarah"

Thanks!

* * *

Glitch watched as DG stepped into the sun for the first time in months. She was pale and thin from spending her days locked up in her room. And she looked so empty, the opposite of the energetic, excitable girl she'd always been. He knew that she was leaving for Finaqua today, and she didn't plan to come back for a very long time. And maybe he'd even let her leave, if it hadn't been for the queen.

He'd had his suspicions. Finaqua, after all, had been a special place for her as a child, would be a safe place now. But when the queen came to him and confirmed what he already knew, he almost died. It still baffled him that she could be so angry at them for absolutely nothing. And he wasn't letting her go now.

The queen had come to him late in the night, alone, to ask for his help. She felt something, something dark surrounding the road to Finaqua. And she wanted her youngest to stay behind, just in case. But DG wouldn't listen, so she needed Glitch to convince her.

Well, that had no chance of happening, so he had enlisted Cain's all-too-willing help. He started toward her as Cain stepped into an easy pace next to her. "Go away, Cain." She snapped bitterly.

He smiled at her warmly. "Sorry, Princess, no can do."

Glitch flanked her other side, looked over her head at Cain. With a firm nodd of the head, they each secured one of her arms. "Sorry DG." Glitch muttered, and he meant it.

The Queen, Ahamo, and Az watched from the car. "Mother!" Az looked at her serene face in horror. "What's the meaning of this?"

Ahamo just grasped his wife's hand. "We all know how much she needs those guys, even if she won't admit it." He'd been told about the plan, and he knew why, but he didn't feel it was necissary to worry Az. "Maybe it will be good for her to stay behind. Besides, something tells me, those boys have had enough."

Az supressed a snarl with a smile and looked out the window as they drove away. She couldn't warn the longcoats without tipping off her parents, so there'd simply be a small complication. And she knew she'd be forced to get ahold of DG before she could do anything else. Relaxing into her seat, she set to planning just that.

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Cain shoved DG down into a chair, her eyes darted between the three strong men. He could see her calculate her chances, and find none. "You ready to listen now, kid?"

"I really don't have to put up with this." She tried to stand, Cain pressed her back down. " I'm supposed to be on my way to Finaqua." She glared daggers that were meant for all of them.

Raw stepped back, he was only here because Glitch was concerned. But that didn't mean he was opposed to holding her against her will. Whatever it would take to make her listen to reason, or at least to her heart. Cain opened his mouth to speak, Glitch just shook his head.

"DG, please." He knelt down in front of her, making sure she kept eye contact. "Try to understand. All we want to do is talk to you, to show you something. Then, if you insist on cutting us out of your life, none of us will try to stop you.

She tried to be hard, to reject everything he was saying, but she cracked under his sincere and innocent gaze. "Fine."

Glitch nodded to Raw, who touched the glass window behind him. An image formed, and she realized instantly what they were trying to show her.

She saw herself, yelling at the resistance fighters she'd encountered way back when. She looked up, and there he was. She watched as Glitch convinced her to get him down, laughed a little at the way they reacted to eachother. Like they were from completely different worlds, which was more than very true. Even when she was freaked out by him, she'd managed to fall into an easy friendship with him.

Then she was faced with another situation. She knew it well, they wouldn't let her forget it. It was when she tried to save Cain from the longcoats, brandishing only a large stick. Someone reached over to squeeze her shoulder tenderly. The tears brimmed in her eyes, fell as she blinked.

The image changed again, shifting to the fields of the Papay. As they released Raw, she toor her eyes away, saw him watching her with a wary expression. She smiled, breathed her first real breath in months when he smiled back.

He let go of the mirror and the image ripped away as he stepped over to her, took her hands in his. "DG part of a whole, need us too."

His words struck her in the heart, leaving her speachless. How more true could you get than that. These people made up a huge part of who she was now, and she couldn't throw that away, even if she tried. She just nodded as she felt familiar arms pull her into an embrace. Resting her head against Cain's chest, she eagerly hugged him back. He just held her there, not wanting to let go quite yet. Never one for hugs, he knew this was different. This was a reunion that definately required it.

She smiled sadly when she finally let go and threw her arms around Glitch. He smelled of motor oil, again. Which made her curious, but she had better things to think about. She heard him sigh, felt him relax as he wrapped his arms around her. And she wondered if maybe this separation had been just as painful for them as it was for her.

Holding her tighter, he whispered to her. "Don't do this to us again, DG. We belong together."

She shook her head against him. "Your just going to get hurt again, next time someone could die."

He pulled back to look at her. "Is that really what you think? DG, this friendship gave me my life back in the first place, and the same with everyone else. So you can't get rid of us that easily."

She smiled, tears still flowing down her cheeks. "I don't know why I even thought I could try." Cain laughed shakily and messed up her hair, she gave him a look.

"Good to have you back, Princess." He grinned.

"Yes." Raw agreed. "Very good."

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The car screeched to a stop, jolting the passengers in the bakc seat. Upon thier protests, the driver turned to face them. "Sorry, but this is where you get out."

Az just smiled as the doors were yanked open. The Queen and Ahamo were pulled out of the car before a hand was offered to her. As she rose, she sent them a satisfied look.

"DG stayed behind to catch up with some friends. " She explained to the very confused longcoats. "We'll take them for now, grab her later."

"Azkadellia." Her mother's soft voice was appalled. "What's gotten into you?"

"Nothing, this time." She laughed, "Face it mother, 'one to darkness she be thrown'. You didn't really expect anything else, did you?"

The longcoats laughed around her as they tightened thier grips on her parents and began to escort them away.


	5. Chapter 5

Glitch covered her eyes as they stopped in front of the door. She couldn't help but grin, they were acting stranger than usual. There was something going on, something special to them. "What's the big secret, guys?"

Cain just laughed, Glitch really wanted her to be suprised. "It's not a secret, exactly." As they led her into the small room, Glitch's smile started to fade. He couldn't understand why she didn't react. She should feel something, even if she hated it, but she'd yet to even look around.

"Glitch, I need my eyes back now." She knew he'd forgotten that his hands were over her eyes. And normally she may have enjoyed letting him figure it out, and that would have been worth the wait, but she really wanted to know.

"Oh, right." He dropped his hands sheepishly. Before her, the machine sparkled in a way only a few could see. The rough beauty that came from making it from scratch. They'd found a new way to power it, one that was a tiny bit more reliable.

She ran her hand over the sleek metal. "How?"

"We've been working on it, when we had the chance." He shrugged, then smirked. "Turns out, our tin man's not that dumb when it comes to this kind of stuff." Cain hit him. "Ow. Well, your not!"

"I don't doubt it." She laughed, picked up the helmet. It should have felt wrong, as it had a hand in ruining the last months of her life, but it felt perfect, it felt just right. "How are we going to test it?"

Glitch took the helmet from her, set it on her head. "Your going to test it." He stepped back. "And Cain's going to work the controls."

She knew how much he'd wanted to be part of this, felt guilty leaving him out. "Are you sure?"

"I've had my fun." He nodded. "Besides, by your logic, I'm innocent if something goes wrong."

Cain resisted the urge to laugh. They'd pretty much agreed not to tell her the whole trute. Cain'd been over reacting at even the thought of her hooking up to that thing, and he knew Glitch would feel the same. So they tested it out then, to make sure she wouldn't be hurt now. That was the only way he was allowing this.

"Alright, tin man." She sat back in the chair. "Turn it on."

Glitch fidgeted as the glass orb that had once contained magic filled with whirling water. Hydrolics had been the only reliable source of energy they could find. Cain stared at the panel for a minute, looking unsure of himself. "Flip switches two, fourteen, twenty-one, and twenty-nine." Glitch offered.

"Your gonna need to come do this, Glitch." Cain stepped away from the panel. He and DG shared a look, she nodded slightly in understanding.

"No." Glitch shook his head slowly. "It's too dangerous, I could forget."

"But you won't." Cain did his best to look cool but nervous, a combination not easy to accomplish. "Look, Glitch, we all know why this scares you. But your the only one who can do this."

DG watched Glitch. Cain had been pretty smart, knowing that Glitch would spend the entire fifteen minutes during activation in worried panic. But he wasn't very convincing. He'd never buy it. DG exhaled sharply, partly to get thier attention and partly because she didn't like deceiving her friend.

"Are you alright." Glitch stopped whatever argument he was about to make to look at her.

"No, Gltich." She shook her head slowly. "I'm not." Cain supressed a smile as Glitch pushed past him without thought. He should have known she'd push all the right buttons.

Glitch looked at her with concerned eyes. "You'll be out in a second."

"No, no." She protested suddenly, "I mean, I'm already hooked up and everything, just go on. I'll be fine."

He just stared at her, not sure whether she meant that or not. "Are you sure?"

"I'm fine." She repeated, giving him a small, weak smile. Satisfied, he turned back to the panel. Her head suddenly felt light, the room seemed to be swimming. Dizzy, she reached out to him. "On second thought, I..." And her world went dark.

"Glitch." Cain spoke calmly, not wanting to spook the man. "Glitch, just stop."

He was still powering up the machine, didn't even bother to look up. "She's fine, Cain, she said so herself."

"Glitch!" He yelled this time, causing him to jump. "Will you just look at her?"

He finally brought his eyes to DG, saw her slumped over in the chair. "Oh god," He spoke finally, "What have I done?"

"Nothing," Cain stepped over to her, began detaching the helmet. Stopped and picked up her right hand. "Hey, look at this." Glitch walked around the control panel, stared at the familiar circle that glowed on her hand.

"I haven't seen that for more than a year." Glitch ran his hand over it, suprised that it seemed to actually be a part of her hand.

Cain's eyes met his. "What do you think it means?" He didn't like this, he couldn't protect her from her own mind.

"The queen was able to help DG relearn her magic through this. So it could be possible that the queen's trying to reach her." Glitch said absently through one of his smarter moments.

"Why?" Cain couldn't figure why she just wouldn't send a messanger. It would have been slower but it would have been safer for the both of them.

Glitch just shook his head. "We won't know until she wakes up." He finished taking the helmet off and scooped her up into his arms. "However long that will be."

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DG couldn't fathom it. One minute she was talking to Glitch, the next she was here, in this cave. Her and Az had come back here once, to relive the memory together. But now she avoided the woods when she came to Finaqua, exept when she was with her friends.

From behind her she heard footsteps, quick moving and steady. A woman entered, her hood hiding her face from view. Followed by two longcoats. They didn't seem to see her, could this really be a dream?

The woman stopped, turned to the others. "Leave me alone with them."

They nodded and turned to walk away, the woman proceeded to the back of the cave where the witch had been contained. Dg followed, a sense of unease creeping over her.

Her parents were chained to opposite walls, each acting as calm as possible. "You'll be out of here soon." The woman promised. Though DG recognized the voice, she could not place it. "Once we've set up a permanent camp."

The world seemed to fade away in front of her. And the last thing she could see was the concealed fear in her mother's eyes.


	6. Chapter 6

Sorry I haven't written in so long, I had humongous writers block for this story. So yet again, I am sorry and I can't promise to be fast with the rest, but being summer, it should be faster that this. I hope you enjoy it. Thankyou for your understanding.

* * *

She woke with a start, in her own bed, throwing herself up as familiar arms locked around her to hold her steady. "Hey!" Glitch called into the other room, "She's awake!"

"They've got my parents." She muttered looking around the room. Quickly she came to the assumption that she'd been out for at least an hour, and they'd carried her in here. She also guessed that Glitch had not left, in case she woke up. Her hand gripped Glitch's as the other two joined them. She had to tell them everything, she knew that. "There was a woman, and she's gathered what longcoats remain. They're at Finaqua, but they won't be for long. They're building another camp."

"Where?" Cain asked, he couldn't help but feel for her. She just never caught a break.

"I don't know, I didn't see." Her voice was strained, she struggled to remember. "It's fuzzy, I can't hold onto it for more than a couple of moments."

"We know." Glitch's voice was in her ear, his face buried in her hair. He didn't think she'd realized she'd begun to tremble. And it churned him up to see her so disturbed. "Noone's asking you to do more than you can."

"We have to go." She tried to push herself up halfheartedly, faked a yawn. Glitch kept her still and she just looked at him. "We need to go after them."

"We will." Cain sat down at the edge of the bed. "But it's two in the morning now. I promise, we'll leave after we've all gotten some sleep."

She just nodded. Cain squeezed her hand and left. Raw just stood there. He watched her, trying to find out how she really felt. She motioned him over, took his hand. "I'm fine, Raw, really. Just a little worried. And tired." Her emotions seemed to satisfy him enough that he left, only Glitch remained.

He looked at her with those deep brown eyes. There was no need to see what she was thinking, he knew, and her heart rolled in her chest. He always knew. "Are you going to subtly find a way to kick me out too?" He spoke finally.

"Actually, no." She changed her original plan, suddenly horrified at the thought of spending the night alone. "I know it's a lot to ask, but can you stay with me?"

He brushed her bangs out of her eyes, they were in desperate need of a trim. The hair blocked those special blue eyes, ones that were so rare. " You know I will."

She nodded, curled up into his waiting arms as they both settled. And more comfortable, they both drifted off into semi-peaceful slumber.

* * *

She woke up alone, although the bed next to her was still warm. Shrugging it off, she stood up and changed into appropriate clothes. The dresses and nice slacks were not meant for the kind of movement that came with trekking across the O.Z. Thankfully, in the very far corner of her closet, her mother had allowed her to keep the clothes she'd been wearing the night of the tornado. For sentimental reasons.

And if felt good to be back in her old clothes. To have that independence back, she'd really missed being able to do anything and go anywhere that she fancied. But the life of princesses demanded spending every second at the castle and under protection. She peered at her reflection in the mirror, smiled as she could almost see all the thing this outfit had been through. She'd faced the papay in this, she'd jumped off a cliff, she'd hung off the side of the building, and she'd met the three best men in both worlds.

Then she saw him in the mirror, he just watched her with a small but distant smile. It was that look again. That one that she never did completely understand. And she knew her heart wasn't supposed to skip a beat, but it did anyway, as it always did when he looked at her that way.

To distract herself, she started comparing his appearance now and his appearance then. He'd certainly looked worse, she remembered. His uniform was new now, the buttons were still shiny. And she knew that underneath, he'd still be wearing the same striped shirt. The jacket was undone and the top couple buttons of his shirt were undone, revealing that very same shirt. He looked healthier too, having had decent food and a proper shower. But he was still Glitch, and he was still staring at her as he used to so often. "What?" She turned to face him.

"Nothing." He shrugged. "I was just thinking, that's all."

"Obviously." She pretended to pout for a second. "Anything you'd like to share?"

"Nope." He shook his head, glanced behind him when Cain called his name. "Oh, right. I was supposed to tell you that we're ready to leave when you are."

"Glitch." She threw her hands up in the air as realization struck her. "I have no idea where we're even to start."

"We've figured that out already." He stepped away from the door frame, coming to stand next to her in front of the mirror. "Jeb still has his ear on the darker side of the O.Z. He'll probably know something. We can send word and have him meet us close by."

"No." She shook her head with such vigor. "One thing that's clear to me is that the timing is no coincidence. Think about it Glitch. A legion of longcoats just happen to be waiting on the day we were scheduled to go to Finaqua. Only a few people even knew we were going. I was supposed to be in that car."

"You think it was an inside job." He should have seen it, He realized, or Cain, but they'd both missed it. They'd had more time to process this and she still came up with the answer to a problem they'd overlooked. "Who?"

"I don't know what I believe, but if I'm right, we can't risk sending a message. Whoever it is will want me now, I was supposed to be in that car. Whoever it is, they want the royal family out of the way and separated, otherwise Az would have been with Mother and Father."

"Well," He thought about it for a second. "We'll just have to visit him at his station."

"Right." She nodded as she walked out the door.

They'd decided to ride, instead of walking the whole way. Four horses stood all ready to go when Glitch and DG finally stepped into the sunlight. Cain had his eyes on Glitch, working out the solution to a mismatched puzzle. Did anyone else see it? He wondered as he helped DG on to her horse, much to her protests that she was perfectly capable. The way Glitch seemed a little brighter when he looked at DG or when they started to talk about her, a little happier. Oh well, maybe he was just thinking too much.

And they took off, heading for the eastern guild where Jeb was now assigned as ambassador, a title he'd more than earned.


	7. Chapter 7

The path stayed clear as they traveled for the first day. The horses were slower than if they walked straight across the forests, but they didn't have to stop as often. So they accomplished the same distance either way. Conversation remained light, no one wanted to bring the others down with their own worries. Cain and Glitch bickered, as usual, causing a fit of giggles from DG when Glitch turned to look at Cain and fell off his horse.

By this point, the sun was beginning to set and Cain was outnumbered in a vote on whether or not they should continue. Cain and Raw went to collect firewood while DG stayed behind to check Glitch over and make sure he didn't have any serious injuries. Other than a small bump in the back of his head, he was fine and that left them with nothing to do until the others returned.

She left for a couple of minutes, came back with a handful of wildflowers. She sat down on the ground, as there was not enough room on the log where Glitch was sitting and went to work splitting the stems. "What are you doing?" He watched her curiously.

"It's an old habit. See, when I was younger, I used to worry all the time. About everything, whether or not I was pretty enough, or if I was going to pass my math test, or that I'd embarrass myself when I presented a report." She smiled at him almost timidly. "I bet you never had to worry about any of that."

"Not that it matters." He shrugged. "But I'm a terrible public speaker. Still, I don't understand what that has to do with flowers.

She'd split the final flower and began tying them together. "My mom, my other mom that is, used to get so irritated because I'd pace around the living room and talk to myself. So one day she took me out to pick daisies. They grew in abundance in a few spots on our land. And she taught me how to make a crown out of them. She'd tell me stories and I always forgot everything that I was worried about. She told me once, that one day I'd make something special out of myself, like I made a crown out of simple flowers, and I wouldn't have to worry about anything ever again."

"You did make something special of yourself." He reminded her, glancing up as Cain and Raw returned with armfuls of stray branches. " Tin man." Glitch acknowledged.

" Head case." Cain countered. DG was about half way done, and Cain's eyes narrowed when he saw the crown, but he disregarded it and started on the fire.

She nodded, never looking up from the ring. " I still worry though, don't I." That left them in a silence that Glitch didn't know how to break. So he just watched her as she tied the last one. Then, in a spark of inspiration, he took it from her.

Carefully, he set it on her head, the deep purple of the petals contrasting with the brown of her hair. "See?" He gestured, " Royalty suits you."

She just shook her head and removed the crown. Then she put it on his head, " It suits you a whole lot better." She frowned, realizing how true her words were.

"I don't think he'd look too pretty in one of your dresses." Cain interjected and she couldn't help but laugh.

"Your probably right." She shrugged, leaning back against Glitch's legs as he put the crown back on her head. "So, somethings been bothering me since we started out. I thought Jeb and his family were living with you. When did he get assigned to the eastern guild?"

" A couple months back." He kept his eyes on the fire before him, idly wondering how much Cynthia had grown by now. "They came by to visit once, but it's too far to make it a regular occurrence."

"I'm sorry." She reached out to touch him, knew how much he loved that child. She was growing so fast, it seemed. And he was missing it all because he stayed with her, even when she wasn't talking to him.

"Don't be." He stood, walked around to sit on the other side of the fire. "Jeb isn't exactly too thrilled with me at the moment." DG didn't say anything, just waited until he was ready to continue. "I stopped wearing my wedding ring. I didn't think too much of it, I just forgot to put it on one day and I didn't notice. He noticed though, and he made a point of kicking me out of the house. He claimed that I didn't love his mother and he didn't want his daughter exposed to that. He actually put in for the transfer, I didn't even know until he left."

"But you just said they visited you not too long ago." Glitch pointed out, taking this moment to move from the log to sit on the ground next to DG. Her back suddenly cold from having been against his legs, she settled back against the log. But it felt nice, having him next to her like this.

"Fiona and Cynthia came up, while Jeb was at a conference in central city. He would have flipped if he found out, so we agreed not to tell him." Cain kept his eyes on DG as she fit comfortably into Glitch's arm. Him and Raw shared a look, they both knew what the others didn't. It was right there and they just didn't see it, not yet at least.

"DG tell story now." Raw smiled. "About time on the other side."

"You'd just be bored, my life wasn't the most interesting." She objected, Cain just laughed and rolled his eyes.

"I'll tell one." He said after a moment, "This happened back when I was on the mystic man's protection detail now..." And DG just listened, her eyes slightly drooping and her head heavy. By the time the story was over, both her and Glitch were out cold. Her head rested on his shoulder and his cheek was pressed against her hair. Her hand rested on his chest while his arm had drawn her tighter to him. Without realizing it, they had become a unit. Though they wouldn't know it when they woke up.

Slightly satisfied, Cain tipped his hat over his eyes and drifted off, Raw just ducked his head and followed suit. Tonight was for peace. Tomorrow for war. They'd reach the eastern guild by then, and then the real work would begin. For now, it could just be them, this small group that had no one else, because no one else really understood them.


	8. Chapter 8

Her eyes widened as she looked up at the city in the trees. People, both small and big alike, walked amongst each other and chatted away happily, on the ground and in trees. They looked like any other city, full of noise and laughter.

She looked at Glitch and he just shrugged, she knew he'd already seen it a few times but she hadn't had a chance to return. It was hard to believe these were the same people who had locked them both in a bird cage. But, then again, they'd been severely affected by the war.

Cain started forward, climbed up the rope as DG slid off of her horse. He was always so much faster when walking into an uncomfortable situation, as if speed meant he didn't care. She followed as closely as possible, the others directly behind. The horses stayed at the bottom of the ladder, unmoving.

People looked at them oddly, not sure what to make of the new comers. Certainly normal sized people were always walking through here, but none of them had a zipper on his head, and none of them was ever a viewer. It made them wonder and whisper among themselves, which wasn't exactly comfortable in it's own right.

DG tried her best to smile, remembered all too well what if felt like to be on their bad side. For that reason, she didn't want to say anything, fearing she might anger one of them. She wasn't usually what people would call a coward, but she could admit, these little people intimidated her.

A woman, one of normal height, stepped out of a doorway, grinned at them. They all relaxed as they recognized her, Fiona. Her long dark hair was pulled into a thick braid at the nape of her neck, bright green eyes spoke of the time she missed spending with her father-in-law. Quickly she made her way through the crowd, kissed Cain on the cheek. "It's so good to see you again." She smiled, nodded to the others. "And you as well. Though, I don't think my husband will have quite the same opinion on the matter. Your welcome to stay with us as long as your here."

"We won't intrude. I wouldn't wish for you two to quarrel over something so small." Cain removed his hat and turned it in his hand, as he did when he had to disappoint someone. "We're actually here in a more official capacity. The princess has urgent business to be discussed, then we must be on our way."

"I see." She frowned slightly, not too unaccustomed to the cool behavior of the Cain men. You could never take it to heart. "I'll take you to see him then. But, you will at least join us for lunch."

"Of course." DG answered before Cain could refuse. Both women smiled knowingly, both like daughters to him, that was the only way they'd get him to agree. "We'd love to eat with you."

"Right this way then." She seemed to glide across the suspended walkways. There was a huge building in the center, with separate doorways. There was a weaved blanket over each to serve as a doorway. With a deceivingly serene face, she knocked on the wood frame.

"Come in." Jeb's voice sounded relaxed, almost bored. Fiona looked at them and held the curtain open.

"We'll be fine without you." DG offered, digging for a chance to talk to Jeb alone, without his father's interference. She had a few things to say to him that couldn't get said with Cain there. "You go see your granddaughter." He started to object. "We don't have time to dance around each other and waste daylight. Kiss Cynthia for me."

"We'll do it your way then." He agreed after a moment of consideration, not that it'd happen any other way. She'd have stood there and argued with him until he folded. Besides, he wasn't going to deny an opportunity to look into those crystal gray eyes.

"I'll be back out in a moment then." Fiona nodded, stepped inside.

"Fiona." Jeb stood from his makeshift desk to kiss his wife. She turned her head. "Love?" He was in disbelief, he didn't remember fighting, and she never got this way otherwise. "What's the matter?"

"You have company." She nodded to DG. The others had opted to wait outside. None of them wanted to be there when DG had her say, they all knew what could happen when she was fired up about something. And it wasn't pretty.

"Ah." He faked a decent smile, always civilized. "My father's favorite princess. What can I do for your royal highness?" Fiona squeezed her hand lightly, whispered a hopeful "good luck" and left them alone.

"It's DG, if you don't mind. The whole princess thing just doesn't feel right." She stepped further into the room, pretending to notice all the little details, but she couldn't care less. It was just friendship, borderline, but she still had to make nice if she expected to be heard. That had been lesson one of being a princess, the first thing her mother had drilled into her head. "It's a nice setup you've got here."

"I'm glad it's to your liking." Jeb's voice was stiff and uncomfortable, he obviously didn't like talking to her and didn't mind showing it. "I don't have time for idle chat, say what you have to say and be gone."

"Alright." She didn't know quite what to do with this new Jeb. The Jeb she knew had been compassionate, friendly if you were on the right side of things. And he never acted hostile toward anyone who was in it for the good fight. Who was this cold and hard man before her? "To the point then. I need information."

"On?" He urged when she said nothing else.

"Anything really. Someone who's trying to rally the long coats, starting recently. A new location they're gathering. It's urgent that I find out and Cain says you still keep your ear to the ground."

"I can't tell you much." Jeb sat back down at his desk, pulled a notebook out of the drawer. "We have a source who just kept repeating that the sorceress has returned. But people have been saying that since the double eclipse. Then there's something about activity at Finaqua, all rumors. Nothing solid. I'm sorry you had to come all this way for that." He flipped it closed, looked at her for a second. "If you don't mind me asking, why is it so important?"

She weighed the risks, found more risk in not telling him. Besides, the longer they talked, the more she could figure him out. "My family was kidnapped on the road to Finaqua. That was probably the activity you heard about."

"You sure?" He couldn't believe it, this family was just full of trouble.

"Yeah, I'm positive. They'd been held in the cave outside Finaqua, but they've probably been moved by now." She nodded with a frown. The conversation was coming to close, she wished it could last a little longer, prolong the inevitable. Then she remembered exactly why she was mad, a child should never turn away their father, never.

"Well, I truly am sorry I couldn't have been more help. You've wasted a journey." He rose to open the curtain, but she didn't budge.

"I'm not." She folded her arms together. "And now, we talk."

"I really have time..." He started.

"I don't care what you have time for." Her voice raised just enough to make him listen, to make him be silent. "You might as well take that stick out of your ass, Jeb. It's not very flattering."

This is about my father, isn't it." One look at her confirmed that. "Seeing as I refuse to talk about it, your just out of luck."

"I'm not one of your men, you don't bother me." She stood her ground, refused to give in to the look he gave her. It was the same one Cain used, as if he was pitying you. "I get why your angry, I really do. And believe me, I've been there. It's hard to believe that your father didn't love your mother." She had hit her father with a broom, she remembered, called him a bastard, but she never actually shut him out. "You weren't there though, when we found your house, the one by the white tree. He was so hopeful, for a few moments it was like there was new life in him. It crushed him when he found the grave there. You can't imagine what it was like, can you? To live with knowing your wife is dead, then find out she survived, just to realize your too late."

"Why are you telling me this?" His voice was thick, he rose to look at an article on the wall, kept his face turned away.

"Because he took his ring off, unintentionally, it doesn't mean he stopped loving her. I'll bet you he wakes up every morning, and some part of his heart bleeds because she's not there with him. But at some point, people have to move on. He can't hold onto the past forever, Jeb. You need to understand that." He stayed silent, she rolled her eyes, time for a more harsh technique. "For just a moment, I want you to imagine that Fiona had been killed. Do you think she'd want you to hang onto a memory, or would she want you to live your life. Spend time with your daughter and make the best of everything."

"Nobody resists you for long, do they." He laughed once, shakily, turning back to look at her. She was so determined, she'd keep hounding until he cooperated. Fiona was like that, it was a quality he could admire in a person.

"Probably not." She smiled, looked to the door for a minute. " He loves that child, the only thing your doing by shutting him off is causing you both harm. Just think about that. Now, I have to ask. Do you think you can at least be nice to him through lunch, or are we going to have a problem."

"I think we'll be fine." He smiled a little, working a little on the new perspective she'd given him. First thing he was going to do when they got to his house in the sky was kiss his wife, then his beautiful little girl.


	9. Chapter 9

_Hope you enjoy._

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There were crickets, she smiled sheepishly as she thought of something she'd once told a friend Crickets at night when the moon was full was supposedly a sign that love was in the air. Not that she believed any of that nonsense, but it was nice to pretend once. Now it was just a bit too serious for her comfort. Her eyes flitted over to Glitch for a moment, happy and totally oblivious. They'd been riding for hours now, not one of them had even considered stopping. And he didn't even care.

He was way to good for her, in her opinion, not that she could ever tell anybody that. That would mean admitting she was in love with him. But he was so gentle and he never had a bad thing to say about anybody. Although get on his bad side and it was an experience you'd never forget. He was smart, occasionally, and funny, and ridiculously clumsy. It was cute and he didn't even realize what it was that he did to her heart when he smiled at her like he was now.

She looked away as she blushed feverishly, she didn't want him to know. It wasn't right. Her parents would never approve of their relationship. It was just so unheard of. Besides, he probably, thought of her more like a sister anyway, like someone he could goof off with and confide in when he just needed someone to talk to. By telling him that she liked him, she'd just manage to completely embarrass them both and create an awkward and unnecessary situation.

Instead, she looked ahead, at Cain. Things had gone surprisingly well, all things considering. It had been fun to marvel at the Cain's with Fiona, someone who actually understood the aggravation she felt when she tried her best to argue with the stubborn man. They'd all been comfortable, eating on the grass and stretching out, talking about nothing and everything. It was because of the time they spent there that they had gotten a much later start than planned. Even worse, they still had no idea where they were going.

Raw held up his hand for a moment, glanced around uncomfortably. "Not alone." He grimaced as the horses stopped in a small group.

"Alright." Cain checked the barrel of his gun, glad to see that he still had all his bullets. It was not unusual for bullets to go missing while he spent time with Fiona, knew she took them because she worried for Cynthia, she did the same thing with Jeb's gun. Only he always remembered to ask for the bullets back, where as he usually forgot. "I'll be back in a few minutes, stay in the group."

DG shook her head, slid off her own horse after him. "Your not going alone, Cain. I'll go with you."

"But, DG..." Glitch swallowed hard, he had a bad feeling about this.

She looked up at him, rested her hand on the side of his horse. "We'll be back before you know it." She tried to smile, it was probably as hard for him to imagine her going in there without him as it was for her to visualize leaving him behind. But it had to be done, someone had to stay with the horses and no one was going to be left alone.

Quickly, before she could change her mind and send Raw instead, she followed Cain into the trees. Raw watched the trees where they'd disappeared as he spoke, keeping his voice low enough that most wouldn't hear him. "DG be okay, us, not so lucky."

"What are you talking about? I'm sure we'll be just fine." Glitch tried to laugh, found no will to do so. Raw just shook his head and pointed. Following, his silent response, Glitch ended up face to face with a long coats gun. Whipping back around to look at Raw for only a second, they both understood perfectly. Create noise and the others will come running back, they'd still be outnumbered. And when they were overcome, the longcoats would have the last of the royal family. For whatever sick purpose that would serve. They couldn't.

Glitch swung himself off of his horse without a word, let the longcoats restrain him. Raw just followed his lead, still not sure surrender was their best option. Glitch had forgotten DG in his reasoning, and how she'd react.

It she was captured too, she could be stubborn and alive. She'd fight every inch of the way and they just might figure a way out, because they'd have several minds working on the solution. But if she was free, she'd worry only about her friends, and all reason would be gone. She'd be a puppet, to do their bidding until they no longer needed her. She'd submit to what they asked of her and they'd all end up dead anyway.

So as they moved to bind him, he let out a ferocious and terrifying growl. He jerked quickly, having never been the best warrior. Glitch just stood there and watched him as if he'd missed something obvious. Then the gun went off and Raw froze.

Glitch looked down at his right led, and the blood spreading slowly there. He knew it wasn't bad but without treatment, in less than a day he'll have lost enough blood that it could kill him. "You shot me." He was appalled, didn't even notice as Raw was easily restrained.

"I'll shoot you again." The long coat warned with a smirk. "Just give me a reason."  
They didn't say anything as they were dragged off, in the opposite direction that DG and Cain had went. Having heard both Raw and the gun shot, DG and Cain came back full force. DG was about to burst through the trees after them but Cain held her back. He couldn't let her just go after them, it was a good way to get them all into serious trouble. They needed tho think this through for a minute before they did anything rash.

"DG, just stop for a minute." He held her still as she tried desperately to free herself from his grip. "Stop and listen to me." His voice was stern and she stilled , "We're going to get them back. But we can't just rush into anything. You have to think for a moment, just try to focus."

"I can't." She wasn't going to cry, she couldn't. Tears weren't going to get them back. She should have stayed, she should have been there with Glitch. It should have been her. But it wasn't. "I don't know what to do, Cain."

"Trust me." Was all he could say. He had an idea, but he wasn't sure it was going to wk. She'd just have to trust him on this. Little more than a year ago, he'd have never expected someone to trust him, now that he trusted her with his everything, he hoped she was still free to do the same. "We're going to follow them, wait until they make camp. Then we can get to them."

"They can only move under the cover of night." DG nodded slowly, seeing the sense in that. "They'll make camp at dawn." What are we supposed to do until then?"

"We'll follow them. " He grimaced for a moment, his eyes on the horses. "We can't take them with us, we'll have to leave them and hope that we can come back when this is all over."

"Cain." She shook her head after a thought struck her. "Neither one of them had a gun on them. And we didn't just imagine hearing one go off." She didn't want to say it, but it had to be said. "One of them might be hurt, badly."

"I see." He wrapped an arm around her shoulder for a second, trying to comfort her. He had no doubt she was right. It mad sense, in a twisted way. "We'll take one of the horses then," He sighed. "And we'll worry about it when the time comes that it's a priority. For now, though, we worry about getting them away without one of the four of us ending up hurt, or dead."


	10. Chapter 10

_I have to admit I've been slightly disappointed by the lack of reviews, and I'm not sure if no one is reading or if you all just hate it. Either way, it's slightly discouraging. Ok, so this is definately not the greatest chapter ever, but I couldn't think of anything else. I hope you like it enough to review. Please._

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"You have got to be joking." DG kept her voice low. The long coats were a good stones throw away and louder than fourth of July fireworks (a description that had taken quite a lot of explaining when DG had shared this revelation with Cain), but she didn't want to chance it.

The sky was beginning to change and soon, it would be too bright to hope that mere shadows would hide them. Cain had come up with a decent plan during the night, one he just had to convince DG of. That wasn't going too well.

"Think about it" Cain gave her a few minutes as he scouted for a better position from which to spy on the long coats temporary camp. From here they couldn't even see Glitch and Raw's location.

She waited, trying not to let herself fall asleep as she sat against a tree. It was true, she was slightly crabby from the lack of sleep during the night, but she wasn't being unreasonable. He just wasn't making any sense. With care, she tied the horse's reins to the tree next to her like her instructor had taught her. Eventually he did come back, bad news written in his eyes as she scooted over so that he could sit next to her."There are six of them, two guarding a tent in the center where I'm guessing our boys are at."

"Great." She smiled sarcastically. They just had to make everything tons more difficult than it should be. Not that rescuing two friends from the clutches of bad men with guns was ever simple, but in daylight, six against two (and only one of them possessed a weapon of any kind.) "And here I was thinking I'd just invite them all for a soothing cup of hot chocolate and we'd all be such great friends."

"I'm worried too, kid, your not alone in this." But he could survive if one of them died. He'd have a rough time at first, then he'd pick himself up, brush himself off, and move on. That wasn't the way DG was built, she'd feel it the hardest. She'd agonize over it until it destroyed her. And though he was sure she'd suffer for any of them, it'd be worse if it was Glitch who was lost. He knew that loss, when a piece of your heart is ripped violently away and your left alone. Bleeding. Bleeding and vulnerable. Bleeding, vulnerable, and painstakingly empty.

"I know, Cain." She sighed, rolled her shoulders. "That doesn't mean your not completely mental." His plan was ridiculous, not that she wasn't willing to try anything if it worked. But, come on, there was no way what he suggested could work.

"I've seen you practice, princess, I know what your capable of. Besides, I've risked a lot more on longer shots." He shrugged, remembering when they risked all of their lives in hopes of sneaking past the guards and gaining access to the brain room. None of them had known at that point if it was possible for Raw to even connect Glitch to his brain. It'd been a huge risk and they'd taken it. This was different, he knew what could be done, he just had to convince her of that.

"Listen." He turned to look at her, his eyes filled with impatience. "This is our only shot. Now, I don't know about you, but I'd rather go with the risky plan than wait around for a chance that something better to come up. Now, there has to be some part of you that understands that."

She just nodded, tongue tied. She'd do it, for their friends, because he was right. This was probably their best bet. After a minute she cleared her throat, realized she didn't even give him a chance to tell her what the plan really was. "What is it exactly I'm supposed to do?"

* * *

She was waiting, she didn't like doing nothing. But it wasn't the right time, they had to wait until the third man came out of the tent, then Cain could do his part. Her job was on the outside, as the distraction. When it came right down to it, why'd she need to distract them when she could just kill them? No, Cain had nixed that idea, much to her chagrin. So instead she waited, and finally the man came out.

DG was crouched down behind one of the three tents, waiting for Cain. She watched him as he ducked under the material of the tent. He'd be untying them now, she had to hurry. If they came out before she was done, that would just be horrible.

With cautious eyes, she scanned the camp, her eyes settling on a neatly piled rope. As Tutor had showed her, she snuck over and touched the rope with two of her fingers, filling it with her light. She had to be specific, thinking of exactly what she wanted it to do before she touched it. It sparkled in white for a few seconds then died down until it looked perfectly normal. Then it slowly started to move, uncoiling itself and slithering away a bit. It looked back for a moment, as if summing her up. It knew she wasn't a target, the source of it's power.

She pointed to the tents, watched in awe as it continued to take on the personality of a snake. It dipped it's head (or the end of the rope DG assumed served as it's head) in a nod and slid toward the men. This might actually work, she smiled faintly, but she had to stay focused. If she wanted her rope snake to do her bidding, it took a lot of work and she didn't know how long it was going to last. The longest time she'd ever held onto the animation of an object was a few minute.

The snake purposely brushed against one of the men to get his attention. He jumped, shocking the other two out of the joke they had been sharing a laugh over. They all stared at it for a moment, not quite sure what to make of it. Finally, one reached over to step on it. It bunched up, let out a hiss. She laughed quietly from where she had been crouched. For a second, she wished she had a camera. Somehow she thought Cain would get a kick out of it. They looked like little girls who had just seen a spider, huddling together and losing their ability to to speak as her snake baited them and fed their fears.

When they couldn't get any closer together than they already were, and she had to admit it, she didn't think she could hold onto the snake for more than another minute, she knew it was time to stop playing with them. The snake slithered around the legs of one man, climbing up until it could reach the next man. It kept at it until it could go around all of them, pulled and tightened, drawing them closer together. They were close enough together that they couldn't breath, with a final look at DG, it tied itself off. It sparkled for a few seconds and when the light was gone, the rope was once again just a rope.

Satisfied, and slightly emptied out, she stood and walked over to the tent's flaps. It shocked her how deeply the other long coats slept. The three here could have been screaming at the top of her lungs and they probably wouldn't have been disturbed by the noise. She'd have to remember that. She opened the tent flap, peered into the tent with an expectant expression. "You guys going to take any longer? Or should I just start making breakfast for these nice men."

Cain was standing in front of Glitch, Raw was busy untying his ankles. He stopped suddenly, looked up at her as if he hadn't expected to see her. "DG go back outside." He pointed to the door almost angrily.

"What?" She got down on her knees to help him untie the ropes that bound his feet. "That's ridiculous." She didn't realize what he was saying, as soon as he was free, she sat up to glance over at Glitch. And that was when she saw the pool of blood under his leg. "Oh god, what happened?" She couldn't help but stare at it. He was turned away from her, leaning against the pole that held the tent up.

"Long coats." Raw said simply, wanting to comfort her but not wanting to feel her pain. So he kept his hands to himself.

"We'll worry about it outside." Cain pulled him up, staggered under Glitch's weight. Raw stood, held onto Glitch's other side.

He was awake, vaguely, but he was conscious. His eyes were glazed over as he lifted his head a little. He gave her a half smile. "Hey, doll. It's actually not as bad as it looks." He frowned slightly as he took in her appearance and the tears welling up in her eyes. "No, don't cry, it's just a flesh wound, I swear."

DG shook her head as the other's helped him out, wiped furiously at her eyes, it did them no good to cry now. She followed them out, stopping to touch her fingers to the rope around the men. It tightened, she watched their eyes bulge and was given only slight satisfaction. She didn't kill them, though she'd considered it, it wouldn't do anyone any good. She still couldn't end human life. Besides, if Glitch died because of them, she would come back and slaughter them all. That was a guarentee.


	11. Chapter 11

_Mostly fluff, I will get back to the real story line next chapter but I had to devote this chapter to just DG and Glitch, it was too good a moment to spoil with talk of evil. And now, on with the show.... enjoy...._

Disclaimer: I still don't actually own any of this. But I wish.... well... who doesn't wish they could claim it as thier own.

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Her palms were sweaty, her heart weighed heavy in her chest. He was going to make it, that was what Raw had told her again and again. But she couldn't believe him until she saw it for herself, and he didn't want her around. She hadn't argued, if he was going to help Glitch then her emotions couldn't get in the way. He needed to focus on his pain and his pain alone.

They'd stumbled their way to a river, a safe distance from the long coats. Cain had built a fire, Raw had gotten to business, and DG just sat there. There was nothing she could do, nothing they'd let her do, at least not yet. So she stayed close, ready and willing for a distraction from her own thoughts.

She didn't like feeling helpless. When something was wrong, you did something about it. That was what had been drilled into head since before she could remember. Idle hands may not be a sin, but they didn't solve the problem. There was nothing she _could_ do, but that didn't make it any easier.

As she wallowed in her thoughts, a shadow loomed over her. She rolled her eyes at her own foolish mental ramblings as she tried to shut out the grief and meet Cain's searching eyes. It wasn't like he was dying, she reminded herself impatiently, close, but he was going to be just fine.

But he saw, he knew. In his hands were a few very sick looking daisies. "I thought you could probably use these." He shoved them into her hands before she could make him feel foolish. "If you don't want them, you could always do something with them, give the head case something to smile about.

She looked down at them in understanding, he was giving her something to do, and keeping himself from freaking out as well. She needed busy work, and he needed companionship, simple as that. "Thank you." Was all she managed as her fingers fumbled with the stems.

He watched her for another minute before he rested a hand on her shoulder. "DG." He spoke clearly, waiting until she looked back up at him. "If you don't tell him when Raw's finished with him, then your a fool."

"Tell him what?" She shook her head solemnly.

"Don't play stupid." Cain just rolled his eyes as he lowered onto the log she sat on. Did she realize she always sat on the right, even when she sat alone? And that Glitch always sat on the left? They were already in sync with almost everything. He doubted they noticed, that kind of thing usually escaped observation. And he didn't care to mention it. "We could have lost him." He saw her finger falter when he spoke, "We got lucky this time and he's going to be alright. Don't throw that luck away."

She didn't say anything, considered his words as they sat in silence. Glitch, he was the most important thing in her heart now. She'd never told anyone that, but he was. And she didn't want to ruin what they had by scaring him away. But something she hadn't thought of until now, if one of them died tomorrow or the next day, it'd be too late to tell him. He deserved to know, and whatever happens happens. By the time she looked back down at her own hands, the wreath was done and it sat almost too bright in her hands.

She had to do it, she decided once and for all, she had to tell him. And if he didn't fell the same, she could deal with it. Just three little words, it couldn't be that difficult to say. Silently, Cain nudged her, jerked his head toward Raw.

She stood, trembling hands and jumbled thoughts. He was awake and jabbering away about something, Raw was helping him up from the ground. There wasn't much she could say to him, she frowned, it was her fault, she shouldn't have left them. And for once, she just wanted to run. But she couldn't, she had to do this.

His eyes were on her, a smile lit up his face. "See? I told you it was just a flesh wound, no need to worry."

She tried to smile, but wavered a the memory. His eyes glazed and disoriented, his skin cold and clammy. Quickly, she cleared her throat, went to move but she couldn't. Her legs had turned to jello. "You were right." She tried to hide the wreath behind her back, embarrassed slightly. She hadn't thought about it at the time, it was just something to do, but it was also a symbol of exactly what had been going through her mind, worry. "As always."

He reached out to touch her, stumbled. Everyone moved in, but DG was the one to catch him. His smile widened slightly, she couldn't resist smiling back. The discomfort and nervousness forgotten. "Steady now." Her voice was smooth, easy as she held onto him, her arm looped around his waist.

He just looked at her, she was in desperate need of sleep. But she wasn't any less beautiful than always, not to him. He wanted to hold her, wanted her to let herself need him. But he had given up on that a while ago. Still, now they were here, and he didn't want to let go. "I think I prefer the munchkins when it comes to playing captive." He joked.

She laughed for a moment, her eyes sparkled with humor as she held up the wreath. "I kinda, um, made this for your." He just stared at it, said nothing. Reaching up, she rested it on his head. "There."

She was so close, just mere inches away from his face. And all he could think of was kissing her, seeing how she would taste after all this time. Settling for a safe alternative, he pressed his lips to her cheek for a brief second. "Thank you." He whispered next to her ear as if nothing had happened. She nodded, "We need to talk, Glitch."

"I couldn't agree more." He watched her start to walk away, instantly wished her arm was still around him. But that wasn't the way it had to be, right now she had to say what she needed to say, and he was more than willing to listen. With that in mind, he followed her toward the edge of the water.

Cain watched them, smiled slightly. He was going to suggest they all get a couple of hours of sleep, but this might be better. Raw nudged him and they shared a look, things weren't going to be quite the same around here. Raw stretched out by the dim embers of the fire as he continued to analyze the way they acted. Chuckling, he propped up against the log and tipped his hat down to shade his eyes. If they weren't going to catch some sleep, he was.

She looked out at the river, dropped to the ground. Neither of them spoke as he sat next to her. The river's moving water was soothing, just the sound of it and the sun against their faces showed signs of peace. There were so many who were awake, preparing for the day's adventures, and not knowing of the trouble that brewed beneath the Outer Zone's surface. But that didn't bother her now, now she had other things on her mind, he could tell, there was doubt and pain in those amazing light orbs.

Absently, his hand rested on hers, his touch caressing and gently. She tore her gaze off of the water to look at him. He was smiling, not hugely, but just enough to light up his whole face, the wreath of daisies still rested on his matted curls. "You scared me, Glitch, more than I'd care to admit."

"I know, DG," His smile faded, "But it's over now."

"But it's not." She swallowed hard, "Every time I close my eyes I'm back outside that tent. Something always goes wrong, and it isn't always the same thing. In the end, it's always the same. We're too late and we can't save you." She choked back the wetness, her voice thick and rough. "I have to watch you die and it's too late to say the things I've been denying to myself for a long time."

He pulled her into his arms, held her to him as she wept. It shook him to the core that one person could feel so much about another. He knew how he felt about DG, his heart could explode with the emotions it held for her. But as she sat in his embrace, he couldn't but feel a little more.

When she had stilled, her breathing even and steady, he locked his fingers with hers. "What is it you've never said? That you've never told me?"

She moved out of his arms to look at him, their hands stayed interlocked. "I never told you," She was making a mistake. She was going to ruin everything but she had to. "how I feel about you."

"And how _do_ you feel about me?" His voice was soft and uncertain. He almost sounded vulnerable. As if she could say the wrong thing and completely destroy him. It made her feel a tiny bit better, knowing he was just as unsure about all of this as she was. Neither of them knew what the other really expected. But that was hope, they could figure it out together.

"Your my best friend." She started, Glitch's face fell. "But your more than that. You became the person I could be myself around, and you make me feel like every thing's going to be alright in the morning. You changed me and you made it impossible for me to live without you a long time ago." She covered their hands with her free one. "I'm in love with you, Glitch."

He flashed a smile, a brilliant and dazzling smile that sped up her heart. "I've been waiting a _really _long time to hear you say that." His lips met hers softly, his hand came up to cup her face.

She sighed under his touch, and as all her thoughts evaporated, she let her hand rest on his shoulder. Never in her life had she dreamed of being kissed like this. Sure she'd read of tender but passionate moments in the romance novels her "mom" loved. She'd never been able to stand them, because she could never wrap her mind around the concept. How someone could fall for another so completely in such a short amount of time. Now she understood the severity of it. She'd tripped over her own feet and ended up crashing into love in a matter of days. And now they were her, in the middle of another heartbreaking circumstance, and she loved him even more.

They had to part, their need to breathe their only tie to reality. She was smiling now, her eyes bright with love. "I take that to mean you like me too."

He laughed, pressed his lips to her forehead. "I'm absolutely crazy about you, Doll." His fingers, long and nimble, traced the skin bellow her eyes. "You really need some sleep."

"So do you." She rested her head on his shoulder, sighed when his arm came around her. "Only problem is, I don't have the inclination to let go of you so soon."

"Simple enough solution to that." He pulled her down beside him, laughing as she fought to keep herself in a sitting position. He won, because she chose to surrender, and she settled into his arms. The sun warmed their faces, the breeze cool and soft. He watched her until he was sure she had fallen deep into sleep, then he let himself drift off.


	12. Chapter 12

_Sorry it took so long with this one. Disclaimer: I don't own anything I didn't own last time._

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He held her hand tight in his as they walked, they had no idea where exactly they were going, and admittedly, they didn't want anyone to accidentally wander off. Hopefully they'd find something that would trigger any thought as to a location, because they had quickly figured out, Cain gets testy when he gets lost. "Maybe we should stop for a minute." She suggested mildly, "You know, take a moment to think."

Cain looked at her with scorching eyes, instinctively Glitch tightened his hold on her. But she didn't flinch, didn't show any sign that she'd back down. "There are people who will be looking for us." Cain shook his head as if she was the only one oblivious to this fact.

"Just wait." She sighed, stopped walking because she knew that everyone else would stop as well.

"We could only have a minute or two lead, and you want to take a break." Cain still looked at her like she was crazy, only now he faced her to do it.

"If you would just give me a minute." She explained calling on the patience she reserved for Cain and moments like this. "I've been thinking, and it's possible I can find the road if I have a chance to think. It's better than wandering aimlessly for the next year or two."

He doubted it, she saw that in his all too clear eyes, but he was willing to humor her. "You have thirty seconds." He decided, grimaced at her as she stayed silent. "Talk."

Her eyes were closed and she ignored him. She tried to visualize the road, tried to think and remember. Tutor had told her she'd never get lost anymore because her light was connected to the deepest roots of the O.Z. Ha, she got lost trying to find her own bedroom half the time. But that didn't mean it wasn't worth trying. Especially if it meant stopping Cain from snapping at everybody.

She could see it, the old road, beaten and worn from the feet of travelers. And she felt pulled to it. That wasn't saying much, she told herself, she had a very vivid imagination, still it almost felt real, as if she could feel the bricks herself. Something in her heart was tugging her to it, she felt drawn there as if it was calling out to her. Did she trust what her heart felt and go with it, or did she tell them she didn't have a clue. Either way, they couldn't be any worse off. Why not give it a shot. "That way." She pointed with finality.

"No offense, princess." Cain turned the opposite direction, because he was planning on going that way no matter what DG might have said. "But your lousy with directions. I'm pretty sure it's this way."

"Fine." She snapped out, her patience at it's limits. First he believes more in her magic than she does, than he questions it. How was she supposed to react to that, other than getting whiplash. And she was going to go her way, because she couldn't deny that she felt connected. "You go that way and get yourself even more lost, but I'm going this way." She let go of Glitch's hand, immediately wanted to take it back, he was free to go whatever way he damn well pleased too. She wasn't going to stop any of them. But she was going this way, and with that thought in mind, she walked off.

Glitch just rolled his eyes at the two of them, stood where he was. Cain just watched her, trying to figure out if she intended to come back. Nope, there wasn't a falter in her stride, she didn't even look back at them. Her mind was made up, and they could either fall in line or fall behind. Raw was already trailing her and that just left the two of them. Glitch had made up his mind too, he was just waiting on Cain. "I'm following her." Glitch said finally, "She wouldn't fight you if she didn't believe, almost without a doubt, that she knew what she was doing."

Cain nodded, caught up with Glitch as he had started already. "You think we'll ever understand that head of hers?"

"I hope not." Glitch smiled absently, he'd decided a long time ago that figuring her out would be a long and confusing adventure. One he hoped to continue for a long time. Besides, completely understanding anybody made them completely boring.

"She's going to get herself killed if she keeps jumping into things with both feet before she looks. But she's probably right about this." He admitted, before frowning at Glitch. He'd sized him up several times over their time together. Each time he'd always come to the conclusion that he may have been scatter brained and he may not have the ability to walk across flat surfaces without falling on his face, but he was steady to a point. His problem now was, was Glitch quite steady enough to take on the whirlwind that DG was. He probably was. "She needs someone to pull her back in when she gets too reckless, and I'm not always going to be around to stop you two from jumping into insane schemes. Your going to have to take care of her, Glitch."

"She doesn't need a keeper, Cain." Glitch bit, annoyed at the fact that anyone, especially someone who knew her would suggest such a thing. People were always trying to change her, even her parents tried to turn her into the pretty little princess she had once been. But Cain, he should know better. "She knows her own limits."

"Calm down." Cain reached out to steady Glitch as he stumbled. "I just wanted to see if I was right."

"Right about what?" Glitch looked down at his own feet, tried to understand why he couldn't seem to walk through a forest without hurting himself.

"Sometimes people, when they get in too deep, try to change the person they care about. And it never ends well, because people can change the small things, like showing up to places late, but they can't change who they are." Cain smiled for a second, "And taking care of her isn't being her keeper, Glitch, it's being there when she needs you. Being DG, she's still going to get into a mess of trouble, and she won't be able to get out of it all alone."

"I can hardly take care of _myself._" He mumbled as he tripped over a root and steadied himself.

Cain just shook his head. "Then she'll take care of you." And that was all the sappy advice he was giving his friend for a long, long time.

Glitch didn't ask him to clarify at all, in fact, he hadn't even heard him. He had gotten stuck in his own thoughts and worries.

He'd always dreamed of the future, of a family, of life together after this was all over. But was that what DG wanted? Did she even like kids? They'd never had occasion to discuss it, so he had no clue. What if marriage wasn't in her plans either? He'd just assumed that once life had calmed down to a dull roar again they'd arrange something small. It wasn't until now that he realized he'd done a lot of planning for their future without knowing if they really had one.

That thought depressed him, a lot, so he just concentrated on where they were going. Thinking of only the ground beneath his feet, he didn't notice how long it was until they stumbled onto the road. "Now where?" DG threw her hands up. They were still no closer to finding her parents and they'd already wasted two days.

Cain looked at Glitch and Raw, an idea striking him. It wasn't a plan, but hey, maybe they'd get some answers. "Can you two remember anything? Maybe it was small, even something you heard one of the long coats say."

"They said something about a tree.." Glitch spoke up, waited until Raw nodded his head in confirmation. "And an arrow, but that's just extremely unhelpful."

"Mentioned Finaqua." Raw added.

"It was all probably just chatter." Cain rolled his eyes. And there went that idea.

DG shook her head, there was something familiar that just wouldn't leave her head. She recognized the sensation by now, cursed herself for having to remember. One day her head was going to explode because it couldn't hold all this new information. It's been a year, she thought she'd remembered all she'd ever need to know.

_They were young, she was maybe six, maybe seven. Az was supposed to be watching her, yeah right, they were only a couple of years apart. But she was dragging her by the arm into the maze, eager to show her. "I have something to show you. "She told her, her face glowing with excitement. "But you can't tell anybody, not even mother knows it's here, I think."_

_"Then how did you find it?" DG didn't quite believe that nobody else knew. She hadn't yet seen it, but she knew her sister. She loved to exaggerate._

_"Just trust me." Az rolled her eyes, brought her to a stop directly in front of the tree that grew in the middle of their maze. She walked around it for a second, spotted the small arrow she'd carved into the stone. "It's this way."_

_With that she ducked through a small hole in the hedge. DG rolled her eyes, and people thought she was the trouble maker, the adventurous and mischievous spirit, that was only because Az was an angel around everyone else. Quickly she followed her, knowing she'd never hear the end of it if szhe refused._

_She came out on the other side, into a part of the maze she'd never seen before. The hedges here were slightly untamed and taller than the path to Finaqua from the outside. Az could be right, she decided as she brushed her fingertips along the leaves. The hedges were enchanted, she could feel it. There was probably nobody around here in years. That made her even more uneasy. "Az, I don't think we're supposed to be here."_

_"We won't leave Finaqua." Az just shrugged and headed off into the maze. She knew where she was going, DG thought grumpily, because she'd found it during one of the times she'd ditched her by the lake._

_"Az." DG ran after her. She could hear her laugher, tried not to get even angrier with her sister. However, she was sure Az would leave her behind if she started to slow down._

_They stopped at the edge of the maze where the hedge meets the trees. Az nudged her, pointed to a set of stares that seemed to be carved out of the very dirt. It headed down aways, then seemed to turn into the maze and lead the traveler through whatever lay under. "I'm not going down there." She didn't want to, Az wasn't making her._

_"Your such a coward." Az mocked her, trying to push her into it. "I've already been down there. It's brilliant."_

_"It doesn't look brilliant to me." DG shook her head, turned to leave. Az grabbed her arm to stop her._

_"Please, Deeg, I want to share this with you." Her face was pleading and DG kinda wanted to give in. But she couldn't. She couldn't go down into the dark._

_"It's about lunchtime, we should probably start back before someone comes looking for us." DG waited until Az nodded and then started back the way they came. That was the last thing that was ever said on the matter._

"They were talking about the tunnels." DG entwined her fingers with Glitch's, tried not to break as the facts only now really sunk in. It wasn't Az, she told herself, it couldn't be. She would never hurt their parents. She couldn't be the woman that was talking to them, she would have recognized her. She did once, a voice in the back of her mind spoke of logic. But she couldn't believe it. The sorceress had hurt them and the sorceress, the witch, was gone. Az was fine now, she couldn't hurt them. But she didn't exactly fight it, though, did she. No, she wouldn't think badly of her sister. Not until she could see it for herself. Az was being held too, that was how they had found the tunnels.

They others were still watching her, waiting for her to elaborate. "There is a series of tunnels under the maze at Finaqua. Az found it when we were little, she carved a small arrow in one of the stones around the tree that sits in the center of the path."


	13. Chapter 13

"Az found it?" Cain and Glitch shared a look. They were both thinking the worst, a small part of her was glad that they saw it too, but she still couldn't buy it. Her sister? No, she couldn't, wouldn't.

Glitch watched the war in her eyes, loyalty won out. And he knew she had to be prepared for the worst. She couldn't be so in doubt that when she saw Az, whom he was absolutely sure was responsible, she didn't act clearly. She wouldn't be careful if she believed that her sister was innocent, she'd get herself killed.

"DG." He waited for a second, tried to reconsider because they'd thought it best that she didn't know. But she needed to know, and he needed to make her believe. "For the last couple of months, Azkadellia hasn't quite been herself. She's become mean, sarcasm and bitterness in everything she says. She, like you, has been locked in her rooms for the majority of the time and when she's with people she rarely makes eye contact. We discussed it a while back and we can only come to one conclusion. We believe that the damage to her heart and her magic from the sorceress may be irreversible. I know you don't want to believe it, but there may be no real way to save your sister."

"So you want me to believe that the only way to keep her from hurting people is to kill her?" She couldn't, even if they were right, she could never hurt her sister. "There has to be a way, any way."

"I just don't know, DG." Glitch shrugged before looking down the road, "For now, let's just focus on getting there."

"Good idea." Cain started ahead, took the lead again. However this went down, he thought to himself, it wasn't going to go down easily. That was something he was positive of.

It was a faster journey than she remembered. Then again, there were a lot of differences in that trip, and a lot of time where they didn't know where they were going. When they stood not even fifteen feet from Finaqua's maze, she finally spoke again, having been lost in thought for most of the day and a half it took to get here.

Raw tapped her shoulder, pointed to the sky above Finaqua. "Storm clouds." True enough, there were dark shifting clouds looming over the maze and the land beyond. They gave her a creepy feeling, but on the other hand, they gave her a sense of ease too. It was odd, to feel both.

"It'll start raining soon, I imagine." She looked at Raw, saw the dark fear in his eyes. "A storm isn't just a sign of evil, Raw, they happen all the time."

"Either way." Cain didn't know why they were standing around instead of just going in. "We're going in."

"No." DG shook her head, continued before anyone could argue. "We have to assume that there will be guards in the maze. And because Az, if we pretend for a moment that your right, would believe that I wouldn't remember something like that, she won't bother protecting the outside. That's how we'd get in."

"The outside of what?" Cain looked at the maze speculatively, there were lots of outsides in a maze, and that wasn't helping the uneasy feeling in his gut at all.

"The maze." She said as if it was so obvious, which in her mind it was. "The stairs are on this side." She gestured to the tall trees that lined the far edges. "And I'm gonna guess that the entrance there will also be guarded."

"They won't make it easy." Glitch agreed, an edge to his voice. He would have given anything to get her away from here, knew she would go in fists up and ready for a fight. He didn't want to see her hurt, hoped that anything else would happen. But there was nothing he could do to stop what happened. "Not after the eclipse."

"How do you want to go about this?" Cain looked at the princess, wondered if she knew exactly how regal she managed to look, even in the old outfit she preferred. She'd make a good queen, if she got the chance.

She smiled at him, just enough of a smile to assure him she'd already thought of that. "You still got that gun?"

"Do fish swim in water?" Cain drew out his pistol, as if he'd ever go into anything that involved the troublesome princess without it. He wouldn't be very good at his job if he didn't. "Fully loaded, haven't needed to take a shot yet."

"Alright." She knew, but she had to ask, just in case she was wrong. "How good of a shot are your?" She bit down on her lip to keep from laughing as insult transformed his face. He didn't like when you questioned his skill, she'd have to remember that.

"Good enough." His answer was short, blunt, and it was even harder to keep the laughter down .

"Then your going to follow directly behind me. If there are guards, don't let them see it. They want me alive." She added when it was obvious he'd object. "Putting a bullet in my head would defeat whatever their purpose is. They won't risk hurting me."

"And we're supposed to just let them take you? Your joking... Your joking.... Your joking... Your.." Glitch was the one to object now, DG reached over to slap his shoulder gently to stop his glitching, Cain thought he knew where she was going with this.

"We have to get in there, without the armed escort." She shook her head. "Let me see your gun, Cain."

"Excuse me?" His grip tightened on the the handle, he could imagine DG accidentally shooting herself in the foot. And that was just something he didn't want to really see.

"Listen, Mr. Oh-so-special-because-I-can-shoot-a-gun," She couldn't be more insulted, she could see what he was thinking, and it was outrageous in her opinion. " I spent a large chunk of my life on the prairie. You learn to shoot before you even start middle school in my town."

"And yet you chose a stick." He smirked as he handed her his most prized possession, other than his hat. "In which you thought it wise to charge a large crowd of angry, armed men. Men who only tried to kill you not even a day before."

She rolled her eyes as she took it from him. Nope, never going to live that down. "Trust me, if the munchkins hadn't grabbed me when they did, I'd have made an effort to find the shotgun I had under my bed. Besides, A stick was easier to get a hold of." Carefully she turned the gun over in her hand, tried to imagine what she wanted. She didn't think she'd ever get used to all this magic stuff, but she could get by with what she understood. And for now, she would put a sound barrier around the barrel of his gun. A magic silencer.

She tried to see the sound, tried to form a bubble around it. And she had to do this here, before they got too close to the maze. Just in case someone heard the gun go off. It was as good as it was going to get, she decided when she was done, though her mother would have done a much better job.

With a swift turn, she pulled the gun up, pointed it at the nearest tree, and pulled the trigger. She could feel the gun kick in her hand, knew it had fired and saw the hole in the tree, but heard barely anything. Cain just stared at the gun, confused as to why it'd looked like it fired. But it couldn't have, he was positive it would have made more noise. She handed it back to him, went to look at the tree. Cain looked up for a moment, saw the bullet hole in the tree as a smile spread on his face. He got it now, it wouldn't make any noise and wouldn't alert anyone who might be listening.

"Hey, DG." He called out to her after another moment. "Why'd you shoot an innocent tree, anyway?"

She gave him a long look before she grinned. "It was either the tree or your 'funny hat'." His lips thinned at that, she came back to him, took the hat off of his head and placed it firmly on her own. "I put a lot of thought into it, and I've decided that DeMilo has no sense of taste, I mean, that van is ridiculous."

"Still _my_ hat." He made a grab for it, she ducked and ran. She chose to hide behind Glitch, but he didn't help much as he turned and secured her by the waist.

"Aw. Come on, Cain, can't I just wear it for a little bit?" She gave him her best pleading look as he came and took it from her head. So she chose a different course of action, she looked at Glitch, glad there wasn't much of a height difference. She'd always hated dating men that towered over her. "So I have a question for you, Glitch."

"I'll do my best to give you an answer." He smiled as she turned in his arms to face him. She didn't return his smile, not completely.

Her eyes lit up but she did her best to keep her face straight."When exactly do you intend to marry me?"

"Excuse me?" He almost choked on his own tongue. And he worried that she'd say no to him, that she'd ask him never to ask again. And here she was, asking him straight out.

"Because, if you don't intend on marrying me..." She had assumed the wrong thing with his reaction, but she didn't know how else to take it. There was nothing but shock in his voice, in his eyes. "...then you've definitely got the wrong girl."

"I've got the right girl, always have." He shook his head for a moment, leaned in to brush his lips against hers. "The moment we're back home." He promised her. "The moment we're home."

"Alright." She nodded, pulled away as Cain and Raw walked back over from where they'd been having their own discussion, by the look on Cain's face, it wasn't pleasant.

"Raw thinks waiting until night will be a bad idea, and I tend to agree. If we're going through the forest, we might trip or end up getting lost." He told her.

"We go now then, during the daylight." She looked at them all for a minute, no one needed encouragement this time, they all knew. So why was it that _she _felt uneasy. "Once we're inside...." And now, she thought as she told them what she thought, it begun.


	14. Chapter 14

She kept her stride steady, even as the others kept enough distance not to be seen at first glance. Because one misstep might not harm her, but it could get _them_ killed. And that was a lot more persuasive.

The plan was simple enough, get spotted, subdue the guards, save family. And with such vague ideas, there were a million things that could go wrong. Anything she did could screw it all up, she was playing with fire here.

She'd been right, and she'd been wrong. Two guards stood by the stairs, and she could take out the newbie. But she hadn't expected for there to be an experienced long coat standing on the other side, one that she knew she'd never be able to fight for long. "An unexpected surprise." He kept his eyes cool, but his smile disarming. Zero, she should have known she'd have freed him. And it only confirmed the last denial in her heart. They were right, Az hadn't changed a bit, not really.

"I can't say I'm happy to see you." She bit as the other grabbed her arm tightly. You could tell your man here not to cut off circulation. It's not like I'm actually going any where."

He ignored her. " She was right about you, you know," He reached out and dared to caress her cheek with his icy hand and she could do nothing. Not if she wanted to get this over with. "Your love for your family, and for your friends, is your weakness."

She whipped around at the commotion behind her. They had them, bound and disarmed, all three of them. Cain had a bloody nose, Glitch looked paler than ever, and Raw was shaking like a leaf. "You already have me." She looked at Zero, and knew. They'd known she'd come, this whole thing had been a nice big trap. Because now, she could do nothing but submit. "You don't need them."

"But we do." Zero kept his hand where it was, on her face, he stepped even closer to her. She refused to flinch, because he wanted her to be scared of him. And she couldn't let him win. "See, by now there are people who know there's trouble, who know that all four of you are together. So, even if they each took an oath never to say anything, which I highly doubt would happen, people would know something was up when they returned without you. We _have no choice_ but to kill them."

He moved in to kiss her, she didn't stop him. She hadn't expected him to really do it. And now, she was frozen in her place. And as he pressed his lips hungrily to hers, his hand moving from her face to roam her body. She trembled in fear at his touch.

He was going to take her, a voice said in the back of her mind, he was going to take her where they stood. To think, she'd been saving her self for _the _one, she'd finally found him, and this snake was going to take what she thought of as Glitch's. He was going to rape her and steal her virginity from the man she loved.

Almost as if he could hear her, Glitch struggled against the grip of the longcoats. He called out, words so vile they'd make normal men blush, and thrashed enough to loosen his bindings slightly. The other did nothing, just smirked at them men who couldn't help but react.

But she couldn't see that, she couldn't even hear the things he tried to tell her, the things he spat at others. His voice was enough, the sound of it brought a new wave of alarm. And a million thoughts ran through her head. She would fight, because she wouldn't be taken, not now, not like this. Her free hand came up to cup his neck as she ordered herself to kiss him back. Forgive me, Glitch, she pleaded in the back of her mind.

The other man let go, surprised by her reaction as Zero wound his arms tightly around her. He thought he was winning, that she was giving herself to him, and those male reactions left no room for thought. And when she knew he didn't expect it, she bit down as hard as she could on his bottom lip and twisted so that it split. Her nails dug deep into his neck, drawing blood, and her knee came up fast and hard. He was down before the other had a hold on her again.

Zero got himself up, his hand came up to his mouth to wipe at his split lip. His fingers still wet with blood, he struck out, his hand hitting her face with a loud and painful smack. She just looked at him, nothing but defiance in her eyes. And she didn't let that low ball of fear in her stomach dictate how she stood, but in his eyes she could see death. She fought, and she lost, and he'd kill her twice as brutally, however that would be. "I'm going to enjoy this." He told her, before giving a nod to Glitch. She looked now, saw the gun pressed against the side of his head. "Him first."

And then someone else was there with them, she almost didn't recognized the voice. So cold, so evil, but still Az. "Wait." She reached over and used her iron grip on Zero's shoulder. There was vengeance there, and DG reminded herself not to have hope, because that vengeance was in her direction. "We do it right this time. There can be _no_ mistakes."

"Yes, sorceress." Zero bowed his head, stepped away.

"Put them with the others." She stepped in front of DG for a second, gave her a look. One that DG wished she could read, but she wouldn't let her see what was going on in her mind. "Make sure their cuffs are tight enough. We don't want one to slip away now, do we."

"Of course not." He replied curtly.

"Then lock the doors." She kept her instructions brisk, trying to remember everything. "Then we go into Finaqua. There should be someone there, someone interested in the disappearance of the royal family.

She just watched as they were led down the dark stairs, none of them bothering to say a word. And she felt victory already. In a few months, she'd "stumble upon this place" with someone and find them all dead, starved to death. But until then, she would play the distraught daughter/sister.

DG felt her blood run cold as she looked around the dark, damp room. It was huge, and she knew they'd get lost if they wandered around. So when they were led to what seemed to be the center, she did her best to remember what turns they took. But they wouldn't get out.

She was secured by two large cuffs hooked to the wall by thick chains. This was something out of a bad movie. She smiled at the thought for a second before she saw them. They were directly across from her, both looking as if they were wasting away. Niether of them had any life in their eyes. They'd given up and accepted the fact that they were going to die. She knew she couldn't let that happen, she had to at least try.

It wasn't until they heard two metal doors shut and click that anyone talked. Ahamo raised his head up to meet her eyes, a small twinkle of humor in them. "We are getting too old for this."

She didn't answer, just looked at Raw, who had been chained up next to the queen, three on each wall. And as she was in the middle she could see everybody. "Is the cuff around your glove, or around your wrist?"

He looked at his hand for a moment. "Glove." And he understood what she meant. Because his gloves were thick, though they looked thin. He only hoped he could get it off.

"Glove?" Cain gave her a funny look, "He's covered in fur, Kid."

"Your not very observant for a tin man." Glitch snickered. DG just rolled her eyes. How could he not notice the leather gloves on Raw's hands, or the V neck line on his fur shirt. Sure, he was half animal, but it seemed that the fur didn't cover his body like one, that she knew of. She wasn't even going to think too far into that though.

"Got it." Raw declared as one wrist came free. The other one was faster now that he had a free hand. Triumphantly, he let out a laugh.

"Good," She grinned with him for a second, his energy was contagious, but that didn't get them out of here. "Anyone know how to pick a lock?"

"That'd be me." Ahamo waved his trapped hand as much as possible, a whole two inches. Every one stared at him. "Don't ask. Hate to disappoint you, DG, but I left my tools behind at the state fair."

"Can you use a screw driver?" She remembered finding it in her pocket as they walked, because she'd just stuffed it there after working on her motorcycle so long ago. Then, of course, she hadn't worn this jacket since then.

"I can try." He shook his head. "But it probably wouldn't work."

"How about we just use these?" The queen uncurled her hand to reveal a ring of small keys.

"Mother!" DG laughed as Raw took them from her and tried almost all the keys before releasing the queen's cuffs. "How?"

"When you practice," She gave her daughter a knowing look, she was young once and she too had skipped magic classes. "You learn that you can do certain kinds of magic without hands. Like lifting keys for example."

"Way cool." DG couldn't help but admire her mother for a moment. Even being so prim and proper, she wasn't stuffy. She'd have to remember that next time they were arguing about whatever it was that was getting between them.

Another few minutes and everyone's cuffs were gone. Glitch's arms were around her as she rested her head on his shoulder. "I'm sorry." She told him finally.

"For what?" He pulled her back, surprised at her sudden apology.

"I kissed him." She said slowly, his hand was on her cheek, not like Zero had touched her. No, his hand was warm as his fingers traced the obvious red mark on her cheek. "Glitch, I kissed another man, why aren't you angry with me? Your not even disappointed."

"DG." He shook his head, pressed his lips to her forehead before looking at her again. "You kicked his ass. Not even Cain could do a better job of knocking him down a couple of levels." His lips were on her unmarred cheek, "He'll probably have a couple of scars for the rest of his life because of you." And finally his lips were on hers, not the same, she smiled, never the same. Because here was love.

"Now what?" Cain spoke after a moment of watching them, because he wanted to see them happy but he didn't want to see too much.

"Now," She looked around the small room, and through the open entrance. She could remember the way, and that was a start. "We go to Finaqua." She looked at Cain now. "After that, I have no idea."


	15. Chapter 15

There was no one guarding the door, she smiled, but that didn't mean no one was watching. They walked through the doors, their heads held high, they showed no fear. Because they knew someone was watching. No one talked, no one looked at each other or even made physical contact, they just didn't have anything to say.

They knew it had taken a couple of hours to get out of the underground labyrinth because somewhere they took one lousy turn. What they didn't know was the extent of the damage Az had caused during that time, or the damage she still intended to do.

Then they heard her, only five seconds before slamming into the young princess. It was the maid that had become a close friend during trips to Finaqua. Petite and blonde, she was full of energy and more dreamy than most women. And DG loved her, because she was as intelligent as they came, and because she cared about what happened to people, and their problems. "Mary." She hugged the woman back for a minute. "Why are you crying?"

Mary jumped back, remembering her place in front of the queen. Her eyes were red and puffy, only accenting the emerald green orbs that swam with tears, her pretty face red and blotchy. "Your sister came, she told us that you had gotten separated. That she believed you to be dead, she had almost gotten attacked by some papay, and she sounded so certain that they had gotten you."

DG braced her hands on Mary's shoulders, compelled her to make eye contact. "Where is she?"

"She went upstairs, I think, to her rooms." Mary took a second but she knew what her princess was thinking. "Surely she didn't know you were alive," She shook her head, "her grief seemed real enough."

"Of course it was." DG brushed Mary's hair out of her face, still unadjusted to the haphazard appearance. So straight and neat, now completely disheveled. "I need you to stay down here with Raw."

"DG." Raw started, but stopped when DG looked at him.

"I know you want to be there, Raw." She came to stand in front of him, took his hand in hers so that he could see the conflict she was feeling. "I want you there too. But somebody had got to get everyone out, just in case."

"You know something." He nodded, there was a darkness in her heart, a sadness.

"No." She looked at Mary for a second, dropped her voice so that she couldn't hear. "Just a bad feeling. Do me a favor and don't let Mary follow us. You know she will. I fear for her safety, Raw, though I'm not sure why."

He just nodded, went to stand by Mary. The rest took off the grand staircase, and when they turned the corner, Mary just looked at him. "Your not really going to make me stay down here, are you?"

He gave her a look, then looked away before he could make her uncomfortable. "Told DG you'd stay."

"And I took a oath to protect my princess to death." Mary insisted, reaching down to hitch up her skirt just enough to reveal the knife she had stuck in her sturdy brown boot. She yanked it out, it's ebony handle was elegantly carved with words that had lost meaning to most. Mary could read it, she'd always known what it meant. The blade shone like silver in the sunlight that filtered through the windows and in that moment she looked like a warrior.

"Not maid." Raw realized now, this woman was never a maid.

"I was assigned to keep an eye on DG after the eclipse, just in case." She didn't look at him, simply pulled her hair back in a quick tail so that it wouldn't get in her way. "I'm going, you try to stop me you'll be flat on your back within ten seconds."

She was gone, it took all of his speed to even keep up with her. But he feared that DG was right, Mary was going to get herself killed.

DG threw open her sister's doors with more force than she'd meant, Cain reached over to lay a hand on her shoulder, to hold her back. "Be careful, kid."

She looked at him, fear and anger mingling in her eyes. "I will, Cain, I will." There was commotion coming from the hallway, coming toward them. "That'll be the long coats."

"We'll take care of them." Ahamo nodded, glancing back into the hall, nine ran toward them. "You and your mother do what you have to."

She didn't get to object, the men were already gone, her mother shaking her head. "Your father will be fine." She told her daughter. "Because if he's not, I might just kill him."

DG laughed, gripped the queen's hand. They walked into the room, both sets of eyes searching for her sister. And she was standing at a window, but no longer looking out. No, her eyes were on them, and filled with hate. "You couldn't just die for once." She stood where she was, knowing that they could kill her as easily as she could kill them. "You just had to ruin everything."

"I trusted you," DG did step closer, only because now she knew what she had to do. "I loved you."

"Did I ask for you to trust me?" Az countered, meeting her disgusted tone. "If it had been up to me, you would have stayed dead the first time I killed you."

DG didn't know what to say, she didn't know what to do as the door swung shut with a bang. Az's hand shot out, knocking her mother back with some invisible force. So that DG stood on her own.

And before she knew it, she was hitting the wall, her head hurt from impact as Az sauntered over to her. "You were always weak." Az spat at her, "Always."

DG tried to stand, to rise and meet her head on, but Az had her by the hair, threw her back down. Hair came out by the root, tearing her skin, and as she tried to brace the fall, she heard her wrist crack painfully.

She looked at her sister, knew this was it. Could she sacrifice herself to make sure she couldn't touch anyone else? Could she do it?

She didn't hear the door reopen, she was up too fast. Mary watched as she charged Az, caught her by the waist, and as they crashed through the third floor window before Mary could intervene. She was at the window, saw them fall, and looked away before they hit the ground.

Having heard the crash, the others were in the room. Glitch didn't even leave the doorway, he saw the window, the tears streaming down Mary's face, and knew. His world was falling down around him as he fell to his knees. She was gone, his light, his sanity, his everything. How was he supposed to go on now that she was no longer there with him?

Cain knelt down next to him and rested a hand on his shoulder. This was all the comfort he could give, still too astonished to think of words. Raw left the room, not being able to take everyone's grief along with his own. Ahamo held the queen as she cried, having just lost both of their daughters, and he did his best to hide his own tears.

Each remembered something of her, something different that the others, something that made her special to him. Mary remembered all the times they'd talk, how they'd just sit in the silence sometimes and not say a word. Cain could remember her clearly, the day he and Glitch got her out of Az's clutches, the way she threw her arms around him, so thrilled by the fact he wasn't dead that she forgot that he wasn't a hugging person, not yet.

Raw just saw the way she talked to him by the river, how comfortable he felt with her, the way she wound his name out of him. The queen saw her as the little girl she held in her lap as she cried, soothing the tears of the frightened girl. Ahamo envisioned the conversation they'd had in the balloon, knowing he'd never to have another conversation like that with her again.

And Glitch, well, Glitch just saw her, as special and beautiful as she was, never backing down from a fight, easing everyone else's fears, and making the world seem a better place. Both cynical and optimistic, both happy and sad, neither an angel or a demon, she was DG. But most, he remembered the first moment he knew he was in love with her, the moment she wrapped her arms around him as best she could and told him his sacrifice was "way up there" as she had put it. The woman he had intended to marry, and she was never coming back.

The queen was the first to speak, rising to look at them all. "Well, we still have nine long coats to see to."

"Of course." Mary walked across the room, wiped at her eyes. Crying could be done when she was alone, when there wasn't business to attend to.

Glitch rose too, knowing that if he sat there any longer he'd never move from that spot on the floor. That spot where his world lay in pieces. "What can I do?" He asked someone, anyone.

"Go to central city." Ahamo walked over to him, decided that no one was going to go anywhere alone. Besides, they had more in common than he cared to admit. They both loved his daughter. "I'll go with you. The O.Z. needs to know. By nightfall there will be candles lit in all the corners of the Outer Zone for DG, she deserves it."

Glitch just nodded, let Ahamo guide him out. Because Ahamo was right, he couldn't be here and DG needed candles.

Cain stared at the window, knowing that unlike his own fall, there was no way she could have survived. No lake to catch her fall, to break through the ice and jerk her system so that her heart couldn't give out. And he had to look away, because he could see it all too well.

The queen walked to the window, looked down. She looked at Cain, something in her eyes that he didn't understand. "By now Ahamo and Glitch are too far away to catch."

"Yes," He blinked, "Why?"

She smiled, just a little, but it was enough to set something inside him at ease. "We may have said our goodbyes a little too soon."


	16. Chapter 16

Cain went to the window, looked down to see what had put the glimmer in the queen's eyes. And he did see, she was hanging by her fingertips on a ridge in the wall. On the ground below, Az lay semi-conscious, just beginning to stir. "You ever get tired of simply hanging around all the time?" He called out to her. Joking to hide the slight panic that had leaped into his throat.

"Sometimes, but then I remember, the view's great from this particular angle." She told him smartly. "Sure would like to see it from the ground though."

"Then why don't you let go?" He offered with a smirk. She snarled at him and looked down at the ground before staring back at him like he was crazy.

"I'd love to." She took a deep breath, knew her grip was slipping, and Az was directly below her. "But I'm not quite prepared to kill my sister though, Mr. Cain, especially not by landing on her."

He rolled his eyes, stepped away from the window and out of DG's sight. The queen watched him as he walked out of the room before she spoke to her daughter. "I think he's coming out there." She waited a second, smirked a little. "Then again, he might just decide to leave you hanging for a little while longer, I've never been too sure about your tin man's sense of humor."

"Neither am I, actually." DG chuckled, met her mother's gaze seriously. "Guess this means I have to start taking this princess thing seriously now."

The queen just shook her head, because DG was right. Az would have to go to prison, there was no way to justify keeping her at home when she might kill them all her sleep. She should have seen it, but how are you supposed to face the fact that your daughter has nothing but darkness in her heart. And that put DG directly in line for the throne, a situation DG had been very vocal that she did not want. This was going to be _lots of fun._ For both of them. "I'm afraid so, my angel."

"I thought so." DG heard a door slam from below, glanced down to watch Cain stride over to the ground where Az lay. "Oh, hey Mr. Cain. Fancy meeting you here."

"Imagine that." He muttered before setting to work on moving Az away from the spot where DG would land. When she still didn't let go, he looked up, but the sun glared in his eyes and he had to look away. "You coming down or are you going to make me catch you?"

"No one ever claimed you were a knight in shining armor." She looked down at the ground, knew it would hurt. Then again, she was lucky that adrenaline was rushing through her, otherwise this would hurt like hell. After all, she was pretty positive her wrist was at least sprained from breaking her earlier fall.

"A what?" Stupid other sider terms. There were too many to know what the heck she was talking about now.

"Never mind." And she let go. The air escaped her lungs quickly as she slammed forcefully into the fresh green earth. She laid there for a minute, a life time, an eternity, it certainly seemed like forever before she could breathe freely again.

She finally rolled onto her back, let her eyes close as she felt Cain watch her. She wasn't going to fall asleep, she insisted to herself, because there were still things to do. There was a pain in her ribs, bruised she imagined, the pain was manageable for now.

But it was bugging her now that she wasn't worried about falling and hurting someone. Where was Glitch? Was he hurt? Was it possible that the long coats managed to subdue him? Was he dead? Was she just reading too much into his absence? "Glitch..." Was that really her voice? Rough and raw, winded and weak.

"He's fine." Cain helped DG to her feet carefully, absently noting the swelling in her wrist. He'd have to make her sit down with raw now. And she'd fight him on it, because she hated asking Raw to tend to non-fatal wounds. "He's going to get a nice shock when he sees you, though."

"Why would he..." Then it hit her, she'd fallen out a high window. He probably, no, by the way Cain spoke, he _did_ think she was dead. "Oh, Glitch." She said his name with all the weight of the world, wanted nothing more than to be with him. "Where is he?"

"He went to Central City, with your father." He told her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder as she rested her head against him. " He only just left."

"To light the candles. I need to find him, and I know your going to tell me I should get checked out first. But I can't." She waited, knew he would give her a minute to believe she was right, then try to convince her otherwise. "He thinks I'm dead, Cain, you of all people should know that I can't wait."

She was right, not that he wanted to admit it, but she was. "Fine, but your going to at least go to Raw though." He saw the argument in her eyes. "You don't have to let him heal you, though you know you should."

She looked toward the palace, saw him standing in the doorway, waiting. Cain had seen him first, she realized, and there was overwhelming joy in Raw's eyes for a moment before he straightened. And for the second time, she was crushed by her small blonde friend. "Try dying on me one more time, and I swear on the stars that I will personally kill you myself." Mary told her as Cain eased away with a grimace.

"I'll try." DG pulled back from Mary carefully, not wanting to offend her. But the way she squeezed her, it hurt terribly. As if he was going to break her if he moved wrong, Raw hugged her carefully. And the moment she was free, she was taking off. They called after her, but none tried to stop her. Because they were smart enough to know that there was no way.

She went through the maze in a daze, her heart racing against her throbbing ribs. And the moment she was on the other side, she realized she had made a slight mistake. She'd have to walk the entire way, and she was going to get lost.

"It's really not nice to leave without saying goodbye." The queen said from beside her. DG jumped, having not seen her. She just smiled, held out her hand. "We'll get there a lot faster if you let me go with you..."

DG nodded after a moment of consideration, took her hand and closed her eyes. Because she'd done this before, and she knew it made her sick. Her stomach churned as she gripped her mother's hand harder. The queen just laughed and the moment DG's stomach settled, she opened her eyes. They were in a back alley, DG sent the queen a questioning look. "We're behind the theater." The queen answered, releasing her daughter and starting away. "They'll have to go to the city hall. We can wait for them there."

So they walked to the city hall, sat down on the stone stairs, and waited. "I'm sorry." DG said finally, not being able to stand the severe silence. " I didn't want to be the princess, for a lot of reasons. And I took it out on you guys."

"We understood." The queen smiled a little, looked up at all the tall buildings as she spoke. "Believe it or not, I had a sister, and I wanted more than anything for her to be queen and not me."

DG looked at her, "What happened to her?"

"Our father was very strict." She hadn't spoken of her sister since Azkadellia was a baby, she'd put away all the thoughts of death at that time. "And when she fell in love with a viewer, lets just say he wasn't happy. When the viewer asked Father for her hand in marriage, he refused them. Her love for him was so deep that she married him anyway. Needless to say, he disowned her and I was stuck with it."

"That's not the end though, is it." DG could see the ancient pain in the queens face, knew there had to be more.

"When Father excepted Ahamo into the family openly, she was furious. An other-sider was more worthy than one of our own people." She took DG's hand in hers, half wondering what she would have done if her father had said no, like he had with her sister. "She was happy for me, and goodness knows, her own life was almost perfect. She had a small home in the country and two little boys by this time. But her rage for our father was so swift and so powerful that it stormed in the valley where she lived, and the rest of the O.Z. for weeks. It even rained on our wedding day. Twenty people died before it was over, some from drowning, some from standing on their roofs too long after the sun came back out while waiting for help, some from starvation. And there were some who couldn't get out of the realm of the unwanted fast enough. She killed herself when she saw the damage she had done, the lives she had taken in her storm. And her husband was left to take care of two little boys all by himself."

"I'm sorry." DG didn't quite know what to say, it was horrible. And to think, if he'd just said yes, just allowed his daughter to be happy, her mother wouldn't have been queen, people wouldn't have had to die.

"You met one of them." The queen nodded when DG's eyes widened. "When you were a little girl, but you wouldn't recognize him now if you saw him."

DG was going to say something but movement caught her eye. They passed right by her before she could say anything. Glitch's eyes were glazed over, as if he was blocking out the entire world around him. She jumped to her feet. "Hey!" They kept walking, not hearing her. She looked at her mother meaningfully, she just shrugged. Rolling her eyes, she let out a large whistle, several people stopped to stare at her, but not them. "Hey, Zipper-head! I'm talking to you."

He froze. She could imagine his mind whirring, a million thoughts running through his head, trying to figure out if what he heard was an illusion or the real thing. Ahamo looked over his shoulder, a grin from ear to ear as he turned to fully face his daughter that. Glitch had still not turned around, had not seen her as she approached them.

It wasn't until she was directly behind him, when she was close enough that he could smell the unique sense that was DG, that he turned. His movements were slow, like time itself was crawling inch by inch. He stared at her as if she was light and he was seeing her for the very first time. " but, you fell… I mean… I thought… "

" you might want to finish one of those sentences sometime soon." She smirked, laughed as he grabbed her and yanked her to him. He lifted her, twirled her around like a cliche ending of a tear jerking chick flick. " Put me down, you big goofball." She shrieked, holding onto him for dear life.

His lips were on hers the moment her feet were on the ground, and in that single moment of time his world was made right again. She deepened the kiss, her hand finding the way to his ever tangled curls. He only pulled her tighter to him, his hand securing her waist. When they parted, he rested forehead against hers with a smile." Just like you, you know, to wait until we're five steps away from telling the world that you're dead to show up."

"Yeah, well, you know me," She kissed him again, lightly, "I can't do any thing the easy way."


	17. epilogue

_So this is nothing more than an epilogue really, because I always feel the need to write one. I had a rough time with this one and although I am sad to see it end, I am happy that I was able to finish it. Thank you to my reviewers, your opinions were helpful in writing this. And thank you to everyone who read but didnt review, although I will never know what you think now. _

_Disclaimer: We all know that I do not own Tin man, and I will never claim I do, however, I do own all the odd thoughts that ran through my head in order to create this fiction in the first place. _

_I hope you enjoy this final piece._

* * *

"And they couldn't even bother to wait a full day before they got hitched." Cain rested against the door, watching them. They were precious, two small angels not even old enough to understand the story. But they were asleep, the story wasn't for them this time.

She was sitting in a chair in the corner, holding the third. Lightning filled the room for a second, rolling thunder accompanied the flash. The child was asleep, not even three yet. She smiled, ended up yawning. She'd tried to resist, but then again, it was two in the morning. And she'd been asleep up until an hour ago. "What keeps you, Mr. Cain?"

"I heard you talking." He stated simply, stepping further into the room. "I take it Ambrose woke up." He knew the little boy would have woken up the first second it thundered, and that she would have woken up to hold her son until it was over. There was another crack of lightning, the small child curled farther into his mothers. "The storm should be over soon.

DG smiled, stood and adjusted Ambrose in her arms so he would still be comfortable. "I thought that too, an hour ago." Her gaze flicked to her girls. "I'm actually surprised it hasn't woken Lily yet."

"Your not worried about May?" Cain smiled down at the two beauties, five and six, and swallowed a chuckled when he realized neither of the girls were actually sleeping. DG didn't, then again, she was too wrapped up in making sure Ambrose was asleep.

"May sleeps through pretty much anything." DG shook her head with a smile, put Ambrose down in his toddler bed. Silently she stepped out of the room, waited for Cain to follow her. " I'm Queen now, Cain, it's still a shock sometimes when I stop to think about it. I've been the queen for four years."

"Your mother had no choice but to turn power over to you." Cain leaned against the wall, wondering if she should have gotten a few more years without that responsibility, on top of being a parent, it was a hard burden to bear. "She used what little magic she had to strip Az of her power, a queen without power leaves the O.Z. defenseless."

"I get that, it's just that..." She stopped as thunder was loud, light bright as day flashed angrily, and a girl called for her mother. Inside her children's room, Ambrose started to cry again and little feet scampered quickly. It wasn't long before she had three little children gripping onto different limbs. She looked up at Cain with resigned eyes, "Do me a favor, wake Glitch up."

"My pleasure." He smirked, remembering how difficult Jeb had been during storms as a small child. It was good to know somethings never really changed. Little kids were still scared of everything and nothing.

As he left, DG had already started to bring the children's bed stuff out of their room and spread it out across the floor. This wasn't unusual for a stormy night in the palace, and in a few minutes, Raw would probably be there too. Then they would start all over with the telling of their adventures. Everyone would add their own thoughts to the story, and by the end, when the children were asleep again, it would be just them, like old times.

So when she heard a door open she didn't bother to look up. "Pull up a seat, Raw." And he sat on the floor a foot from the spot she had chosen, Glitch came in and sat behind her on the couch, Cain settled in on the other side of her, Ambrose in her arms, and each of the girls stretched out on the floor.

"So, it all began when I was your age, a long, long time ago..." She smirked as the girls laughed, and slipped into story telling mode.


	18. Author's Note, PLEASE READ!

Hey I'm so sorry, I've had horrible writing block for forever. But good news is, I have chapters in the works so those should be posted shortly. In other news, I need your guy's help.

This is going out to multiple stories, some finished, some not, so I apologize.

If any of you are Harry Potter fans and like RPG's can you please go to (remove the *s) f*a*c*e*b*o*o*k*.c*o*m*/H*o*g*w*a*r*t*s*.R*P*G.3*9*4 I'm trying to get it to run as close to realistic as possible but I need students! And maybe a few teachers for those who have a particular interest in being one! Please, if I get 30 people to enroll I will work nonstop on the chapters until they are done and the stories come t a conclusion.

And for the Harry Potter fanfictions, I will start working on the story of Mel and David if I get 60 enrolled


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